The Choice
by maggiemoo1113
Summary: Peeta is in love with katniss e. and he always has been. When she gets sicks weeks before the reaping, he decides its the perfect time to get her to like him. But when the reaping comes along, Katniss will have to make a desicion that could change things.
1. Chapter 1

The Choice

The day was quit and dull as I made my way to that place called school. School for me was just like home, someone always acting like a witch. The only thing I enjoy about coming to school is her. Her dark brown hair, always put into a pleasant braid, her special mocking jay pin she got from the hob, and the most beautiful singing voice I have ever heard. Katniss. Just one look at her and my day goes from horrible to joyful. Too bad she doesn't even know who I am. All she does is hunt and hang with that Gale kid who is two years older than us. Every girl at our school has a crush on him, but he rejects them all when they ask him out; he's probably waiting for Katniss. The only class I have with her is History, but she still doesn't notice me.

Every day afterschool, I stare out the bakery window, waiting for the moment she will walk in and start a conversation with me. But instead, she goes back to her small home in the seam with Prim. Prim knows who I am, I sat walked her home one day when she couldn't find Katniss afterschool. That was the first day I think Katniss Everdeen every spoke to me directly. All she said was a simple "thank you" and that was enough for me to get nervous and freeze. She's never talked to me since that day. I don't know if she just doesn't like me because I'm not from the seam, or if she's too nervous to talk to me too. Yeah I don't think that's the case.

The next day at school, I attempted to approach her but right as I was about to take my first step towards her, Gale acting all cool, runs up to her and says the usually, "Hey Catnip, you still on for hunting tonight? I know it's not a Sunday but I've just been really bored lately." But for my surprise she says no. Why would she say no? She always goes hunting with Gale? There could be a thunderstorm, or her mom was sick, or she broke her arm and she would never, never not go hunting with Gale. I wonder what she was doing that was so special that she had to miss hunting was the "gorgeous" Gale Hawthorne?

I take my usual route home from school but today the trip seems to take shorter. It might be because I have to work and if I don't, my mom will yell at me like always. I could always have my older brother Ryan take my shift but he's always out with his friends and a bunch of random girls. As I am putting my final batch of oatmeal cookies into our broken old microwave I hear our bell ring. I hear a familiar voice whispering to someone. I knew that voice from miles . Her voice was always so happy and perky and made me smile every time I saw her. I hurry to the front to see Prim standing beside Katniss looking at the cakes in our front window. Now I know why she skipped hunting…

"M-may I help you" I say in a hushed tone. I didn't want to feel like a total idiot the first time talking to the girl on my dreams.

"Oh no! We just came to look at all your beautiful bakery items. These are my favorite." she announces making her way over to the cookies cut to the shape of Primroses. "See cause my name is Primrose." she continues.

"Ah yes, those are my favorites too." I say before glaring over at Katniss who seems to be taken by one of MY cakes in the front window. This was my chance to say something to her. This was perfect, I wouldn't sound cheesy talking about history class or living in the Seam. Just what to say, what to say. " I see that you are quite fond of that cake, aren't you Katniss." She spins around and her dark brown eyes meet mine for the first time in a while.

"Yeah, um the design is different. I like it." She quickly says before bringing her head back down at the cake. It only was about 30 seconds after that, that she took Prim's hand and told her it was time for them to leave. Before they walked out the door, Prim came back in the store to say good-bye.

"Thanks for helping me that one day. I never _officially_ thanked you for that. Oh and save a Primrose cookie for me!" she said as she waved and skipped back outside to rejoin hands with Katniss. That went way better than I thought it would. Katniss actually spoke to me; it was just how I remembered it; except this time I wasn't as nervous. Before I could think of any other beautiful thoughts of Katniss, I smelt something burning from the back. My cookies! I sprint to the back as fast as possible, and open the oven to see a batch of a dozen burnt oatmeal cookies. I quickly take them out of the oven without even getting my gloves on. I take a nearby rag and swing it back and forth around the area so the smell of burning wouldn't make its way upstairs to my mom's room. As I am swinging the rag, I hear footsteps coming down the stairs, I peak my head around the corning to see my mom drooping down the stairs. Suddenly, she kicks it into high gear and storms in the kitchen yelling my name. And not, in a good way.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Well this is my first fan fiction ever! I've never really considered myself a good writer but I just thought of a really good idea and starting writing. Thanks to everybody who has added my story to their favorites and alerts. It made me so happy! Ok I'll shut up now! Enjoy **

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters or Susanne Collins writing.**

Before school the next day, I try as hard as I can to cover up the multiple bruises my mom put on my arm. I put on my brothers sweat shirt because mine are all too small. Again, the walk to school was boring as I try hard to admire my surrounding, but the sight of people from the Seam just makes me sad. Every day at approximately 7:31 before school starts I watch Katniss and Prim run up the front steps as if they are late; but today I only see Prim slowly cruising up the steps. She didn't seem as peppy and jumpy as she usually is. Where was Katniss? I could only hope that she was ok and wasn't hurt or anything like that.

I go through the day constantly worrying. If anything had happened to her, I would die. I imagine my life without her in it, though she's not in my life now; not seeing her gorgeous eyes and smile would leave me depressed and alone the rest of my life. History class is boring like always. All the girls were giggling and whispering about Katniss and soon I'm not going to be able to handle it. They keep saying she's out with Gale doing I don't know what but I can only hope it's just hunting.

At the end of the day I search the whole school for Prim. During lunch I was thinking; since Katniss isn't here, Prim doesn't have a walking buddy home, and it would be the perfect way to get Katniss to like me. After spending ten minutes wondering the school grounds and hallways, I give up and walk back to the bakery. I keep hoping that she and Katniss are okay. When I get back to the bakery I see a figure standing in the front window admiring the Primrose cookies. Prim. I continue to walk in the door and greet her.

"Hey Prim. What brings you here?" I ask kindly. I wasn't trying to be mean, but I was really curious why she would come here.

"Well I was actually looking for you. I didn't have a person to walk home with and I couldn't find you afterschool so I just decided to come here and wait for you. Because your bakery is closer to the school than my house. Would it be okay if you walked me home?" she stated. She came to me?

"I would be delighted. Let me just inform my brother and I will be right out." I hurry to the back of the bakery, and leave a quick note that reads: _On a walk, be back before dinner-Peeta. _I trip to the front and stand next to Prim who is looking at the cake that Katniss was admiring last night. "You ready?" I ask but instead of a "yes" she turns to me and gives me a brief stare down.

"She was right….this is a really "different" design." she comments. I could tell that she had more to say but I cut her off.

"We have a whole walk to your house for you to tell me your stories. I need to get you home before your mom and sister get worried." I argue and push her out the door. Prim means everything to Katniss; if anything were to happen to Prim she would blame herself for the rest of her life. Prim meant more to Katniss than Gale. And Gale was a pretty important factor in Katniss's life; he partially taught her to hunt. Once we get out the door Prim opens her mouth.

"All Katniss could talk about last night when we got back was how cool that cake looked. She also couldn't stop talking about you. I think she likes you." she quickly spits out. D-did she really say that? Was she telling the truth? Am I supposed to believe a twelve year old?

"She really was talking about me?" I ask her for reassurance. If she really did talk about me, was it good or bad?

"Yea she was. She said something about History class and your cake and some more stuff. Like I said, I think she likes you. And I am completely positive you like her too." Did she really say that? What am I supposed to say? Yes prim, I love your sister?

"No…she doesn't even know who I am." I lie. I bet she has a counter argument; she always seems to be able to get people to say things.

"I saw the way you were looking at her yesterday while I was trying to talk to you in your bakery. It was the same look all the boys at school look at her. Also when you helped me home that one time, I could tell you were nervous when she thanked you." What was I supposed to say from that? All of that was 100% true, if I tell her than she will go tell Katniss and things will be all awkward between us. "If it makes you feel any better, the reason we came down to the bakery yesterday was because she wanted to see you. And I am not lying. She even blew of Gale! She likes you, you like her. Just admit it!" she adds in.

"So how was school?" I say attempting to change the subject. I knew that she wouldn't answer and continue on the old subject.

"Don't change the subject, Peeta Mellark! I know you like her…I swear I won't tell her anything. Just please tell me Peeta." she swears in a meaningful way. The look on her face makes me reconsider telling her. I can tell she isn't lying; she won't tell her a thing.

"Yes Prim. I have liked your sister ever since I was five and she stood up and sang in front of the class. Ever since, I have watched you guys walk home from school and watch her during History. I knew she would never like me because there are so many boys at school that are way better than me, that are drooling over her." I admit lowering my head. When I lift my head, Prim is smiling at me.

"That is the cutest story I have ever heard. I can't wait to tell Katniss!" she says as she sprints to her front door.

"Wait what! Prim!" I yell from a distance.

"I'm kidding. Thanks for walking me home. I'll see you tomorrow too probably. Byebye." she yells back and trots into her house. As I am leaving, I hear a loud knock. I turn around to see Prim waving at me through her window. I can't help to smile. Then I see Katniss staring at me through another window. I make eye contact with her but after five seconds she turns her head and closes the curtains. Could she really like me? From her actions recently it doesn't show. I turn back around and make my way back home where I would have to explain to my mom why I was gone so long. My pace becomes slower, hoping for the best.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Honestly, I don't know where this story is going out how everything's gonna plan out so yeah…..enjoy!**

The next day, I am also excited to go to school knowing that Katniss might actually like me. I can't even imagine what life would be like with Katniss by my side 24/7. What if Prim was lying? I just told a twelve year old my deepest secret about her own sister. If Prim told her last night my life would be ruined; she would never talk to me again, and everybody at school would make fun of me…especially Gale. I decided to stop thinking about all of the "what if's" and just live in reality. If she did tell Katniss; too bad. If Katniss did like me; than good for me.

When I got to school in the morning it was almost like dé·jà vu. I saw Prim walking up the front steps without Katniss. Katniss. God I hope she is okay. I quickly run to catch up to Prim before the bell rang and she went to her first class. Luckily, I got to her right as she was about to jump into her first class.

"Hey Prim!" I greet her trying to be as happy as possible. What was I going to ask her again? I spent all that time fussing over finding her, I forgot my main motive.

"Hey Peeta! Wow you really smell like cookies! Were you baking this morning? Well I've gotta get to my first class and I assume you have to get to class too, so how about we talk during lunch. I have no one to sit next to because Katniss has been gone. See you later buddy! Bye!" she spits out. I could tell she was looking forward to class. I peak my head into the classroom quickly to see Prim giggling next to Rory. Of course. She's got a little crush. Rory was Gale's younger brother, I don't know what those cute, nice Everdeen girls see in those mean, annoying Hawthorne boys?

The couple hours before lunch felt as though they lasted a whole week. I couldn't stop thinking about what Prim was going to tell me. More about Katniss liking me, or make fun of me for liking Katniss…I don't know. My lunch begins twenty minutes before the younger grades so I decided to head home for a while; it's not like anyone here would notice anyways.

When I arrive at the bakery I run to the back and run the perimeter of the house to reassure myself that no one is near or in the bakery. Without hesitating, I grab a brown bag from under the counter and sprint over to the tray of Primrose cookies. I take three of them and carefully place them in the brown bag. I also put in a snicker doodle for my pleasure and head back out the door.

When I get back to school, I skim the cafeteria for a small girl sitting at a table by herself. After approximately two minutes of skimming I decide to give up and go back to my classroom. Before I could walk through the cafeteria doors, I hear a familiar voice screaming my name. Prim.

"Peeta, Peeta, Peeta! Over here, over here!" she continues screaming at me. I spin around and head her way. I was starting to think she was probably going to bail on me…like every other girl in this school. Even a twelve girl that is my friend (in a way) doesn't want to be seen with me. Great. "Hey I found myself a lunch buddy until Katniss comes back! Peeta meet Rory, Rory meet Peeta." I shake his hand and turn back to her.

"Then um I guess I will just see you after school. Meet me by the tree right outside the front door. I have something for you." I say as I lift and shake my brown paper bag. Her face lights up and I can tell that she knows what's inside it.

"Ok, Ok, Ok! I still have something I have to tell you! See you then." she informs me with a ginormous smile on her face. I look back to see her chatting and giggling with Rory and all of the other boys at the table. She is going to turn out just like Katniss; having the attention of everybody boy in the school. As I walk back to class, I pull out my snicker doodle that I was supposed to eat and shove it all in my mouth. I choke on a bit of it but continue to walk as if nothing happened. The rest of the day is boring as usual. History hasn't been the same ever since Katniss decided not to show up; she's really the only one that participates. I find it weird that Katniss is very active during class, but when she's not in school she's not social and she's really shy.

At the end of the day, I decide it would be a nice thing if I went and got Katniss's history homework to give to Prim. Once I have gotten the two worksheets she needed, I grab my backpack and head to the tree where I promised to meet Prim. To my surprise, she is already standing there jumping up and down waiting for me. As fast as I can, I make my way over to her so she would stop jumping and humming terribly; no offense Prim.

"Peeta you're here! For a second I thought that you had ditched me to go bake your cookies like you always do afterschool. So can I have some now?" she eagerly says as she glances down at my bag.

"I brought you three! If you want them all you must do three favors for me. Got it?" I try to say as sarcastically as possible.

"Got it! What is your first request" she jumps up and down preparing for my answer. I dig in my backpack for the homework that I am supposed to give Katniss.

"This is Katniss's history homework. Our teacher wanted me to take them for her." I lie. "If you could, could you please give these to her? Tell her she doesn't need them done ASAP." She nods her head and grabs them from my hand. I hand her a cookie. I feel like I'm treating her like a dog, but it's the only way I could get her to tell me things. Once she finishes her cookie I begin the next request.

"Next! Tell me what you wanted to tell me before school." I wait for her to answer. I'm expecting something about Katniss and that is what I get.

"Oh, I wanted to tell you that Katniss wanted her homework. Guess you read my mind. Also she says that I should thank you for walking me home every day so…Thank you! Now my cookie…" she says sticking her hand out awaiting a cookie. Even though I was expecting something like "Katniss admitted it! She's deeply in love with you!" I still gave her a cookie. She chews on my cookie like she has never eaten anything in her whole life. In the seam, the most they get in a night is a usual squirrel and a loaf of bread from my bakery. She's never had this much food in her life!

"Last question. Now please Prim, answer seriously… Where is Katniss?" I mumble. Apparently she heard me because her expression becomes sad and she looks down while twiddling her thumbs. Sooner or later I started feeling bad for her and just gave her the cookie. I could tell that she didn't really want to tell me and I wasn't going bribe her with a cookie. "Sorry Prim." I tell her as we turn and head to her house. She doesn't say anything until we are almost to her and Katniss's house.

"She's sick. We don't know what is wrong with her. If you didn't know, my mom is a nurse so she has been going through all of her books but she doesn't know what it is. I honestly think it's the water she's been drinking when she's out hunting. But Gale is fine! She has a high fever and she's been throwing up like crazy. I really hope she's okay. But she is probably going to be out for a while so can you walk me home for the next weeks or so?" What she says surprises me? Katniss. Sick? I don't think Katniss has ever been sick the past 10 years I have known her. Then I go back to the fact that if she wasn't going to be okay, I wouldn't be able to live much longer. I would have to stick around with Prim. One day a while back I heard Katniss talking to Gale about her mom and how she didn't care about anything. I would have to watch over Prim. Suddenly, I remember I am having a conversation and zap back into reality.

"Oh I am really sorry. I really hope she feels better. And I would be delighted to walk you home every day. It's kind of fun, I always learn something new." I agree giving her a wink and she starts to laugh.

"Thanks…I will tell her that you said that…if it's okay with you of course. I guess I will see you tomorrow! Hey can you walk me to school tomorrow too!" She must really like me if she wants to spend this much time with me. I nod my head and she runs at me giving me a large hug. "See you tomorrow at precisely 7:19! Bye!" She runs to her door screaming "Katniss, Katniss, Katniss!" Oh gosh here she goes; she's going to tell her everything and it's going to stress Katniss out even more.

I turn around and head back home. I still had to make a cake tonight for the Undersee's. Apparently it was Madge's birthday and since she wasn't having any friends over, her dad, also known as the mayor, decided she deserved a cake. Madge reminds me of Katniss; doesn't have a lot of friends, shy, quiet, but smart.

When I get home, I put on my apron and get baking. Once the cake is done baking, I decorate just as the mayor recommended. I put it in a box and secure it shut. I write a quick birthday note that reads: Happy Birthday Madge- Peeta and Family. As I walk out the door to go deliver the cake, I am stopped by my vision of the front window of the bakery. My eyes focus on the cake that Katniss had her eye on the last time she came to the bakery. Perfect.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Hey I'm sorry but I decided to change the POV to Katniss for this chapter. Don't worry; it's only for this chapter. And maybe some chapter coming in the future…..I just got an idea that might be good. Enjoy!**

POV: Katniss

My head is pounding so hard, it feels as though it is going to explode. I hate being sick. I know Gale is worried sick, and my mom has been up day and night looking through her old book trying to figure out what is wrong with me. All I have felt like doing lately is laying in my uncomfortable bed and just sleeping. Sleeping isn't the easiest thing for me to do when I have a family and friends to think about. Like Gale. He might be sick; we went hunting that day that I got sick. Just thinking of him getting sick is mind wrecking. I know things between us have been awkward lately, but I just want to be his friend for now. If I ever get the chance to leave district 12 maybe it could happen. But until then, I'm okay being by myself. Other than this one guy…

Right as I decided it would be a good idea to close my eyes and actually try to sleep, Prim comes running into our house screaming, "Katniss, Katniss, Katniss". I wonder what she needed? Oh god I hope she's ok.

"Katniss, Katniss, Katniss!" she continues to scream. Finally, I get enough energy to get up and head to the room where she was screaming my name.

"What?" I mumble in the fact that I am still mentally sleeping.

"Peeta said that he hopes that you get better! Isn't he so sweet! Oh, he also said that he would be willing to take me to school in the morning, and bring me home every day until you are feeling better." What she said didn't surprise me entirely. Peeta is probably the kindest and sweetest guy I have ever met; but I haven't really talked to him much since he threw me that bread when I was starving to death. I'd like to talk to him sometime, but I am always to scared….me scared! Hard to believe right.

"He really said that?" I ask for reassurance.

"Yep! I think he might likes you too… the way he looks at you. And you like him back right?" Now what she says takes me surprise this time. Me like Peeta? I guess I never thought about it?

"No. He barely even knows who I am." I lie.

"Funny because he said the exact same thing about you. Just admit it." What was she doing to me? Ever since I have gotten sick, I have watched Peeta walk home with Prim, the way he smiles, I don't know what it is, but he's always happy; even though everyone knows his mom hits him.

"Okay okay Prim, don't you have some homework to do?" I say trying to ignore the fact that I may actually have a small, little, tiny crush on Peeta Mellark…the boy with the bread.

"No! Do you like him or not?" she protests. I don't think I have seen this much out of her since…well since forever!

"Yes; I guess I like him. But I can't tell you the reasons. You don't need to know why. Now go do your homework." I finally spit out. Wow that took a lot out of me. It takes a couple minutes of her smiling at me to go away and actually leave me. In the time I am left alone my mind has never done more thinking in my whole life. Whenever I thought about him, my mind would go on a trip. _I like Peeta Mellark _went through my head a couple times before realizing that it was true. I don't know; something about blondes turns me on. Well, now I am going to deal with the fact that he doesn't like me. He has a crush on the mayor's daughter, Madge; well that's what everybody at school has been saying.

My sleep is terrible. I get up about six times to throw up, I am hotter than heck, and Prim had a nightmare so I had to stay up and make sure that she was okay and got back to sleep. I never went to sleep after that, so I decided to just through my mom's books to see if I could find anything. Nothing. What the heck was wrong with me? Whatever it was, had to be gone soon because I needed to get back to school as soon as possible, I have to hunt because Gale shouldn't be out there by himself killing animals and getting enough to feed both of our families, and…the reaping was coming up in a week.

I help my sister get ready for school in the morning. She is wearing a blue skirt with a pink blouse with cute little blue buttons.

"Come on little duck, let's get your backpack and go outside and wait for Peeta." when I say this, she gives a huge smile and starts to giggle. "Yeah, yeah let's just go outside." I yell at her. She quickly grabs her bag and we go outside and wait on the front steps. What was I going to say when I saw Peeta? I didn't want to look like a total freak, and I didn't want him to know I liked him because then things would be awkward between us. "Hey Prim, promise you won't tell him anything we talked about last night?"

"Of course sister, I promise! Oh oh here he comes. Are you ready? …Are you okay?" she glares at me when I go over to a bush and hack up some gunk in my mouth. Probably not the best thing for a guy I like to see me doing. By the time I am back sitting next to Prim, he is less than 20 meters from us. He is staring at me. He probably thinks I am a freak.

"Hey Prim! Katniss." he says staring over at me, then makes his way back over to Prim. "How are you feeling?" he looks back over at me. Was he talking to me? "Katniss?" I jump in surprise to see Peeta and Prim giving me a strange look. Yeah, now he definitely thought I was a freak.

"Oh sorry; I'm getting better I guess. I still don't know what is wrong with me. But thanks for taking Prim to school. I can always trust you." Did I just say that? He stared at me for a long time; I know he is thinking about that one time a couple years ago. Then he begins to chuckle.

"No problem. I just hope that you start to feel better. I know a lot of people at school are missing you. Especially, Ga- never mind." Did he have some kind of problem with Gale?

"Well you two should be heading out. Have a good day at school." Prim gives me a big hug and starts to walk with Peeta. After they took 10 steps, Peeta turns around and gives me a slight wave of his hand. How could all the girls at school **not** be drooling over him?

Once they are well on their way to school, I go back in our house and get some actual hunting clothes on. I have been feeling a lot better than last week and even last night; it was time that I should start getting more active, maybe some fresh air would help. I grab my dad's bow, and I head out to the fence. When I get there, I bring my ear fairly close to the wire of the fence, listening for the annoying humming sound that indicates that the electricity is on. When I hear no sounds, I hop over through the fence and quickly trip to my usual hunting space.

As I am about to let go of my bow that is aimed at a small deer a couple meters away, I hear someone call my name behind me. Gale. What was he doing here?

"Hey Catnip! What are you doing out here?" he asks me. Shouldn't he be a school?

"What the heck is your problem? I had that deer! Now how am I supposed to feed my family? How Hawthorne? And why are you here?" I complain. That deer was mine!

"Well if you really want to know, I went over to your house this morning to see if you were up for hunting tonight, but when you weren't there I got worried and came looking for you." Did he say that? I thought he only thought of me as a friend?

"Um-then I'm sorry. I just couldn't let you hunt for both your family and mine. It's not fair. So you can go back to school. I will be ok." I say trying to avoid conversation about us.

"Katniss, I'm perfectly fine hunting for your family and mine. You're sick; you shouldn't be out here, especially during a weekday. This when the peacekeepers are out the most. I don't care about school all I care about is your safety. I will stay here while you hunt, even if it means missing school." he says before slowly leaning in closer to me. He pulls me into his chest and softly presses his lips against mine. I pull away once I realize what is happening. We stare at each other for a good 30 seconds, and then I take a step back, grab my dad's bow and run back home. Without looking back, I go back through the fence. I can hear him yelling my name.

"Katniss please! Wait!" Ignoring him, I run all the way back to my house and shut the door loudly. I process what has just happened. Gale kissed me; Gale likes me? After a while, I hear a knock on the door.

"Please Katniss. Let me explain." he just comes right out and says. He never calls me Katniss?

"No- I am feeling sick. Now wouldn't be a good time." I lie. I attempt to fake cough but all it sounds like is a baby choking on baby food.

"I know your lying. Please just le-" he tries to say before I cut him off once again.

"Just go to school." I yell at the top of my lungs. I take a step back from the door just in case. I hear him walk away. I sprint over to the window to watch him walk away; I can tell he is screaming his head off, and with full force he goes over and kicks the tree nearest our house. I can tell he's majorly upset. Do I actually have feelings for Gale Hawthorne? It's not as though I didn't enjoy the kiss? I grab a chair and watch him as he disappears into the morning fog.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Well I decided to start writing because I was reading another fan fiction, and it was making me mad! I wasn't planning on being up this late writing but I lose ideas quickly... IF YOU HAVE IDEAS REVIEW PLEASE! Hope everyone has a great Memorial Day! Enjoy…**

**Peeta's POV:**

Was there something wrong with Katniss? She seemed a little weird when I picked Prim up. I could tell by the expression on Prim's face that she knew something. Something that she obviously couldn't tell me. Though I knew I wouldn't be able to get it out of her, I try my very hardest.

"So Prim….how are you?" I say with a peppy tone. Maybe if I acted as though I had no idea what was going on, she would just tell me. I knew by the innocent look on Katniss's face when we left that it had something to do with her.

"I'm not going to tell you Peeta. I promised Katniss!" Wow she's good. So it did have something to do with Katniss. I became even more curious as the walk to school became shorter and shorter. Every once in a while Prim would look up at me and giggle for a second then stare back at the ground.

The rest of the walk is peaceful until we both turn around to the sound of rustling of leaves. I see a figure coming the distance. Whoever it was built up, strong probably, and was quite tall. As he got closer to Prim and I could tell who it was. Gale. What was he doing?

"Hey Gale!" the way she said this made me assume that she was happy to see him. But from the expression on his face made me automatically realize he was mad. Was it about Katniss? He doesn't even glare at Prim when she acknowledges him; his eyes are focused on me. What the heck was his problem? As he got closer and closer my stomach twisted even further.

I looked over at Prim's face as it suddenly dropped. She probably has seen Gale's expression because she slowly moves her small, fragile body behind mine. Gale all a sudden comes full force at me. He fastens his fists and lifts it as he continues coming my way. WHAT DID I DO? Next think I know he is right in front of me with his hand up and in position to hit me in the face.

"Gale please don't! GALE STOP!" I hear Prim screaming from behind me still. Gale doesn't seem to listen to her, because I watch as he full out punches me in the face. I fall to the ground in pain. My vision is blurry but I still can make out Gale walking past Prim continuing on his way to school. I lay back down on the ground, usually when I get punched in the face by the brothers, it doesn't hurt; but his hurt more than ever. What was his problem? This definitely had something to do with Katniss? He is the only one that knows that I have a crush on Katniss, and I know that he obviously like her too. What went down between them? Whatever it was, I had to find out.

"Peeta, Peeta are you okay?" she asks as she runs over and kneels down next to me examining my face.

"I-I'm fine. I ju-just need to get up and walk it off." I get up and begin to walk but before I know it, my vision is closing and all I can see is blackness.

**KATNISS'S POV:**

I continue to think about everything that has happened to me in the last 12 hours. But before I could think any deeper I hear a high pitched scream from outside. Prim. I automatically get up and run out the door.

"Katniss, Katniss, HELP!" she continues saying as I run to her.

"Prim what's wrong! Aren't you supposed to be at school?" I was beginning to become nervous. Why wasn't she at school? Was someone hurt? Gosh I worry too much.

"It's Peeta! He's hurt, I think he's unconscious! Is mom home?" Of course it's Peeta. The one person I might actually care about is hurt. I just love my life.

"Where is he? No she's not home? Take me to him…maybe I can drag him to our house to fix him up." Did I just offer that up? Well I wasn't going to let him just sit in the middle of a dirt path passed out, was I?

"Wait what do you mean "you" can drag him home? I'm going to help you! Just follow me." she argues before taking me to the spot where he lays about a quarter of a mile from our house.

"Ok thanks Prim. Now hurry to school. I can handle him. Be safe." I blurt out while pushing her away from me. She tries to argue but I just ignore her and eventually she's off to school. I grab Peeta by his ankles which are have minor swelling, and begin to pull him home. As I am pulling him, I stare down at his innocent face. Who in the world would do this to him?

The walk back to my house seems as though it takes hours. I can tell that I am starting to get weaker and I feel like I'm going be sick. But I pull though, and by the time I get to my house the sun is actually up. I plop him onto our living room "couch" if that's what you want to call it. I do as Prim does and examine his face. He has a cut above his right eye, a bruise on his cheek, and I can tell from swelling around his eye, that a black eye is on its way.

An hour our two passes before he begins to move. Was he waking up? What am I supposed to tell him? Maybe I should have let Prim stay with me…this is going to be kind of awkward. I watch him, as slowly his eye lids twitch open revealing his glowing blue eyes.

"Wher-where am I?" he says as he sits up holding his head.

"Um you got punched in the face by I don't know who, Prim came for my help, and I tragged you to my house." I inform him trying not act like a stalker.

"Well thanks Katniss. I can always rely on you and Prim I guess. Wait-how long have I been out?" he asks me looking around the room for a clock. Which we didn't have.

"About 2 hours, give our take a little." When I say this, his face perks up.

"Really! The last think I remember was being on the ground watching Prim examine my face. I can't believe it was really that long? Wow I must have been hit pretty hard to be knocked out that long" I don't think I have seen this confused part of Peeta before. I kind of liked it; he is definitely an _interesting _person.

"Yeah about that…who actually punched you, Peeta?" When I ask him this question he gives me a deep stare down. It was starting to make me uncomfortable but I could tell he didn't really want to tell me. Was his answer going to upset me?

"Gale." When he says his head drops only peaking up at me everyone in a while. I could tell that he was scared of me, of my reaction; I don't blame him. I stand up with the feeling inside to punch someone. Why would he punch Peeta? Did this have anything to do with what happened earlier today? If it did, I would have to kill Gale.

I ask him to tell me everything that happened and he does. That's what I like about Peeta. He's is so kind; he would do anything for someone. Though what he tells me shocks me, I can't completely see Gale doing this; well when he's mad or stressed he tends to act like that.

"So how have you been lately?" I could tell we were off that subject and back on to me. Honestly, I don't know how I have been? I just pulled a 175 pound boy a quarter mile, I think that might throw things off.

"Good. I haven't been able to get food for my family. I'm usually the hunter in my family and without me the only thing we get is leftovers from the Hawthorne's." With the look in his eyes I could tell he really cared. He wanted to listen to me vent my issues. Another reason I liked Peeta. Caring.

"Well, have you tried hunting recently?" Was he psychic?

"Um. Actually I went hunting this morning. That's why Gale was so mad and that's why he probably punched you. We were hunting-well _I _was hunting and he came looking for me. Th-then-" I had to determine if I should continue. If I tell him we kissed, will he never like me? Will he think I actually have feelings to Gale? Well I did, but obviously after everything that has happened today, there is NOTHING between us. "He kissed me" After I say this he just looks at me, I bet he's trying to figure me out. The only thing he had to say was one word…oh. Another reason I like Peeta….he's not judgmental.

We just sit in our living room in silence. Every once in a while, Peeta rearranges his icepack on his face that I gave him earlier. The way he stares at me, I can feel a connection. I didn't know if Peeta had an "official" crush on me, but it was final that I was definitely was in love with Peeta Mellark; the boy with the bread.

"Well I should get going. You probably should get some rest, you don't look so good….no offense." I laugh a little from this. Another reason I liked him. Funny and a good sense of humor.

"Oh yea…Well I guess I will see you later." I really don't know what to do now? Hug? Wave? Hand shake? Love is so confusing!

"Thanks for everything. I don't know what I would have done without you and Prim to help me. I can still go get Prim if you want? School ends in about 20 minutes." Another reason I liked him; Sweet…always thinking about everybody before him.

"I think she will be fine. You need some rest; you have had a hard day." I say trying humorously. When I look up he is giving me a smile that I had never seen from him before. He holds out his hand for me to shake. Apparently that is what we were going for. I love the feeling of his rough, warm hands on mine. Finally, I decide to let go and watch him walk to the door. Then he turns around and opens his mouth, at first nothing comes out; what was he trying to say? Something important? Then he closes his mouth and looks down as though he is embarrassed. I watch him shake his head trying to get a thought out of his head. What was he thinking that he didn't want to tell me? Instead of telling me his secret, we asks me a simple question?

"Do you want this back?" he asks as he points down at the icepack, melting in his hands. I can't help but to laugh a little.

"It's all yours." I confirm. He smiles, gives me a delightful nod and walks out the door. I watch him walk back to his bakery. I hope he was going to be ok. I go back to the couch where he was laying and sit down. That was the longest conversation I had ever had with Peeta Mellark; and I enjoyed it. I think about everything that I learned about him today; A.) kind, B.) caring, C.)not judgemental, D.) funny and E.) sweet I knew Prim was going to ask me plenty of questions when she got home. That's Prim for you. I decide to lay down right there and take a short nap before she came home and pound me with questions I would feel weird answering.

**A/N: Sorry for changing the POV. I just kind of started writing and as I went I got new ideas with help from HappyKid21. I was going to have something fun happen in this chapter but I decided just to add that to chapter 6. Wanted to make some tension between Gale and Katniss, but also Peeta and Gale…**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Just got back from seeing the Hunger Game for the third time! I LOVE PEETA'S HAIR! I was thinking after the movie, that if catching fire comes out in 2013, then mocking jay will come out in 2016 and then of course they will make it into two parts, so part two will come out in 2017! I'll be sooo old! 18! Just a thought…enjoy**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games or any of the characters in it. **

**PEETA'S POV:**

When I finally get home from probably the worst and best day of my life, I directly go to the cake I plan to give to Katniss. After what has happened today, she deserves the cake even more. I didn't know when would be the best time to give it to her, but I knew had to be soon, before the reaping. My name was only in the reaping 7 times; how many times was hers in? 10? 20? 40! I stop thinking about the negatives and move my eyes back onto the cake. When was I going to sneak it out of the bakery first of all?

By the time nightfall approached, I had my plan figured out. I would come home after school and quickly grab it before my parents would get home from shopping in the town, then I would take it over to her. Then I remembered I had promised to take Prim home. She can always come with me I guess, she will be so excited!

On that note, I crawl into my bed and go to sleep like Katniss suggested. All I can think about is my hours with Katniss early today. But mainly, I could only think about how embarrassed I was, standing there trying to tell her I love her, then getting choked up. The way she looked at me while I was struggling to spit it out, made it obvious that she knew that I had something really important to tell her. As I think about Katniss and my day, I drift into a deep sleep of joy.

When I wake up in morning, I quickly put on a clean shirt and head out the door, determined to make this the turning point for me and Katniss's relationship. I sounded like such a girl, but I just couldn't stop thinking about her.

I approach Prim and Katniss's house and exactly 7:19 as Prim requested every day. I'm slightly disappointed when I see Prim walk out the door but no Katniss. Seeing her face every morning, made my day go by even faster. Was she embarrassed about yesterday? Was this going to throw off my plans for later? I hope not; I don't think I have ever had this much courage in my life, and it was slowly slipping away.

"Hey Peeta, are you ready to head on out?" she stares up and me.

"Yeah sure. You have some explaining to do missy." I say, trying to act as sarcastic as possible.

"As do you." she informs me and we begin our walk in silence. "I go first! What all happened after Katniss dragged you home?" I try to remember everything. If I didn't tell her the truth, she would go to Katniss later today asking the same question.

"Well I woke up on your "couch" after about two hours so your kind sister says. She gave me an ice pack, we talked awhile, and then I went home about twenty minutes before you were done with school. I offered to come get you, but she said I needed some rest. Ok Prim, now it's your turn! What happened after I got punched in the face?" I ask curiously.

"Ok let's see…well you said that you just needed to get up and walk it off but then you fainted or passed out, but you were unconscious. You kept mumbling my sister's name. 'Katniss…..Katniss' was all you said. That's when I decided to go get Katniss to come and get you. She heard me screaming her name so it didn't take long to get her; I showed her where you were, then she told me to go to school and that she would take care of getting you safe." What she says kind of shocks me.

"I-I really was mumbling her name? Di-did she hear me?" I shyly ask.

"I don't think so. When I came back with Katniss, you weren't saying anything." I try to stop this conversation after she answers my last question. We were almost to school when I decided to tell Prim part of my plan.

"Hey Prim. Meet me by this tree afterschool" I point at a small oak tree about 20 feet from where we were standing. "I need to go to the bakery and pick something up before taking you home. Is that ok?" After asking this she nods her head happily, and we both hurry inside when we hear a bell ring.

The day at school went by really fast. Classes went by faster than ever; even history class. When I hear the bell ring, I grab my belongings and hurry out the tree. To my surprise, Prim was already there acting exactly like she was the last time I told her to meet me there.

"Are you ready to go? Don't worry I will tell you everything that is going on but you have to promise you won't totally freak out." She nods her head and we begin to walk. Our pace gets faster and faster as we get closer to the bakery. Eventually, we were running. When we got to the bakery, Prim slipped inside as I ran the border of the house reassuring my parents weren't home. Then I slipped inside to join Prim.

"So what is going on Mellark." she giggles to herself. She almost looks like a puppy dog while she waits for me to answer.

"Ok so you already know I am in love with your sister. And I need her to know that before the reaping. She helped me out so much yesterday, and I can't keep standing by watching the girl I love, especially when she is starving and sick. So I decided to show my love for her-"I clutch onto Prims hands and guide her over to the cake in the glass. Her eyes open wide and meet my eyes. "By giving her this cake. This is the perfect time, after what happened yesterday. And also I wanted to do it before the reaping….."

"That's so sweet Peeta. I think your idea is perfect, she will definitely love it. Maybe, just maybe, it will make her feel better. Emotionally and physically. Well are we gonna get going?" I get even more confidents when she tells me this.

"One last thing. When we get to your house, can you please not act like you know and just go up to your room. I don't want you watching me or her when I give it to her. Can you do that for me?" After a long time of her thinking, she sadly nods her head at me. "Thank you! Maybe if you succeed I will bring you a cookie tomorrow…" I left it at that, I grabbed the cake Katniss had been in love with last time she came in, and made my way to Katniss's house with Prim; wishing for the best.

**KATNISS'S POV:**

I can't stop pacing back and force when Prim doesn't come home on time. The only thing keeping me sane at this time was knowing that wherever she was, Peeta was taking care of her. When I decided to sit down and keep calm I hear laughing and chuckling from outside. Thank you Peeta. When she walks into our house I ask her where she has been, but all she does is lock her lips and head up our half broken steps.

Still curious about Prim, I look back at the door to see a familiar figure standing in the door way. Peeta. What did he want?

"Hey Katniss." he says softly. "Do you mind if I come in?" He has something in his hands, is that what I think it was? He was holding something rectangle shaped that was probably a little smaller than our microwave…..which was oddly bigger than usual.

"C-come on in. W-what's that?" I try saying confused. Of course I knew what it was. It was a cake from his bakery…but why was he giving it to me? He slowly slides in and is eventually sitting next to me.

"I-I brought this for you. I-I remember you thought it was unique the last time you came into the bakery." He places the cake onto my lap. I remember that day; it was the first day my sister got the idea that I liked him.

"You remembered?" I ask him. That day seemed so long ago, maybe Prim was right; maybe he did like me as well.

"Yeah. You just seemed so enthused by it. And I thought it would be a good way to thank you for everything you did for me yesterday." The look on his face made me want to scream with joy. His beautiful blue eyes locked on mine, his dirty blonde hair covering up a small portion of his eyes, his smile that was so precious I was having troubles controlling myself. I knew that this wasn't just because of what happened yesterday…it couldn't be.

"W-why are you doing this?" I ask him quietly. Without saying anything, he leans in closer to me and presses his soft lips against mine. This kiss felt a lot different than the one Gale gave me yesterday morning; more passionate. After a while, he slowly pulls away and sits back up straight on the couch.

"So it's true." I say scooting a little closer to Peeta who is acting quiet now. He turns his head back to me once again staring me straight in my eyes.

"You have no idea how long I have wanted to do that. I'm sorry, I-I just wanted a way to show you that I like you. I have had the silliest crush on you ever since I was five and you started singing the "Valley Song" at our concert. From then I knew, _you_ were the one."

"Peeta…" I begin saying.

"I know, I know. You're taken with Mr. Gale Hawthorne. But I just couldn't stand it anymore. I have watched you walk to school with Prim everyday Katniss. Every. Day. I just need you to-" I cut him off. I push my lips to his again. At that moment I thought it was a good way to shut him up. This wasn't usually something I do. Throw myself at people. When I pull away, he gives me a confused but innocent looks.

"Peeta. There is nothing going on between me and Gale…especially after what he did to you yesterday. And there never will. Since we both are admitting our feelings I-" Was this the time to tell him? I was almost certain I had a crush on him so why am I so nervous? "I like you too." His reaction was so precious. Almost a confused, excited, happy look that I had never seen on anybody. "It took a lot of serious arguing between me and Prim for me to realize it though. But the day when you gave me the bread, the day you helped me find Prim, and these couple of days that you have taken Prim to school are reminders to me on why I like you." I stopped there. He didn't need to my every last thought about him at this very moment.

Prim must have heard me say her name because she came blazing down the stairs and into the chair next to me. She didn't say anything. All she did was sit there glancing back and force between Peeta and I. To stop the awkward silence in the room, I stand up and move the cake to the kitchen where it would be safe.

"Well I should get going. I will talk to you later Katniss." he stands up and brushes up against me. He gives me a soft hug; my head is tangled in his messed up hair before he pulls away from me. Am I really going to take this cake?

"Thanks for the cake again! Are you sure it's ok that I have it?" Like he would say no. I know it is probably against the rules and his mom will hurt him if he finds out but I'm assuming from everything he has told me today, that he doesn't care.

"No, it's all yours!" Was he mocking me from yesterday? A small smile crawls on his face and he walks out the door. But before he could get any further I run outside and catch up with him.

"Hey, I am thinking about going to school tomorrow. I have been feeling a little better. If you want, you can still come with us." He pretends to think awhile.

"Wow that is a tempting offer. Sure. 7:19 right?" He makes me laugh.

"Yes. Like always." We are both smiling now. He gives me another hug then begins to walk in the direction of his bakery.

**PEETA'S POV:**

Only one word could describe what just happened. Perfect.

**A/N: Sorry for changing the POV again! I just thought the kiss and everything from Katniss's point of view would have been better… It's easy writing Peeta and Katniss! **


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: So happy! No homework…I am really excited for tomorrow! Well I am just bored now so I decided to write. Then I had to go to soccer practice so I totally lost my train of thought. I really wanted the ending to this chapter to be good, but I wish I could have been a little better. I kind of spilled all my ideas to my friend…whoops! Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Hunger Game characters, or any of Susanne Collins writing!**

**PEETA'S POV:**

It has been about a week since I unraveled my feelings for Katniss and surprisingly, I don't regret telling her. In the past week, we have been spending a lot more time together which of course is the highlight of each day. I still walk with Katniss and Prim to school; Katniss has been feeling a lot better lately. I think she and Gale have made up because they go hunting on Sunday's together again. Of course I can't help to be jealous of him; he can hunt, he's older, he's strong, everything I'm not. I honestly wasn't sure if we were what people at school call "together", but I didn't want to bring it up to her.

Today was the reaping. I had asked Katniss a couple days ago how many times her name was in the bowl. 29. How could that be? My name is only in 11. I don't think it's fair that the seam kids have to put their names in more time to be chosen to die JUST for extra food. But I guess it isn't my job to worry about that. All I cared about was that Katniss was safe. Well and Prim. It was her first year; Katniss was telling me that she was very nervous. Her name was only in once because Katniss wouldn't let her take any tesserae.

After I get all my nice clothes on and my hair is brushed back like my mom prefers, I hug my parents and head over to the Everdeen's. Hopefully they hadn't already left. When I knock on the door I am welcomed in by Prim who is wearing a white blouse with a cute little blue skirt. As I walk in I hear Katniss calling something to Prim.

"Tuck in your tail, little duck." she says running up behind Prim and quickly stuffing a little chunk of fabric under her skirt. "Oh hey Peeta. H-How are you feeling?" she asks me as though he didn't even know I was here.

"I'm fine. Just a little worried you know, like every boy and girl between the ages 12 and 18 are. If you were to g-" I try to say before getting cut off by Katniss.

"Don't think like that. I'll be fine. I have to finish getting ready. You can talk to Prim if you'd like." she suggests to me. As she says, I go over and take a seat next to Prim who is shaking. I try to comfort her by rubbing her back.

"You'll be fine Prim. Your name is only in there once; they won't pick you." Comforting people wasn't my greatest strength but I had an idea of what to say and what not to say.

"I know. I'm more nervous that I am going to lose Katniss or Gale or YOU! Even Rory's name is in the reaping 17 times! And he is only 12 like me! I just don't think I could live without any of you in my life." I start to feel sympathy for her. I remember when I was 12 and my name was in the reaping for the first time. I was scared as heck! At least she has someone to comfort her…

"Are you two ready to go?" Katniss asks as she walks into the living room wearing a knee-length blue dress, and her hair is up in a braid bun thing. She looked completely gorgeous. Getting back on track, I nod my head, she takes Prims hand and all three of us walk out the door on our way to the square.

When we get there, I get in line for the boys. When it's my turn, they pull me closer, grasp my hand my harshly prick my finger. After I have gotten my "Ok" I head over to find Katniss. I spot her about 10 feet to my right, but before I could say my last words before the reaping, a peacekeeper seizes me and takes me over to my section. Then I see Effie Trinket walk on stage with her pink curly wig. Suddenly I hear the Panem anthem begin to play.

"Happy Hunger Games! And may the odds be _ever_ in your favor!" she announces. She begins to tell us how much an honor it is to be here, history about Panem and the Hunger Games rules. As she plays a video from the capitol, I skim the crowd looking for Katniss. Then I see her looking for me too… I mouth the words "Are you ok?" She mouths back: "Yeah…Good Luck". I begin to smile at her but Effie interrupts.

"I just love that! Well let's get down to business! Ladies First!" She crosses over to the side of the stage where the glass bowl full of girl names was scrambled. I watch her reach her hand into the bowl. I bet she is feeling every single slip of paper, because her hand is in there for probably a minute or two. All I can think about it if it was Katniss. For Effie to say 'Katniss Everdeen!'; what would I do? She finally pulls a single slip and holds it tightly in her two fingers. She makes her way back to the podium and slowly unravels the paper. The closer she gets to the microphone the more scared I get. I take a deep breath and she announces the name.

"Primrose Everdeen." No. How could that be? Her name was only in there once. I immediately look over to Katniss whose face has drooped and she looks like she is going to throw up. I can tell that she isn't going to let this happen. Please Katniss. Don't. Before I knew it, she was pushing through the other 16 year old girls and through the peacekeepers.

"I volunteer!" Everybody looks back at her. "I volunteer as tribute!" she screams from behind the grasp of two peacekeepers. They let her go and she runs up to hug Prim. She is telling her do something but she is resisting as usual. I decided to go out and pick up Prim from Katniss. She is kicking and screaming at me, but I take her back to her mom as I begin to tear up too. I whisper to Katniss. "Go up there Katniss. Don't worry." Apparently she heard me because he turns her head and slightly nods.

"What is your name sweetie?" Effie asks her.

"Katniss Everdeen" she says in a whisper. I can tell she is basically heart broken.

"I can bet that was your sister, right?" she asks her. All she does is nods back to Effie.

"I like this one Effie! She's got good potential." Haymitch admits as he attempts to walk towards her. He's obviously drunk. But before he can make it to her, he falls off the stage and a load of peacekeepers have to come and take him away. Effie pushes Katniss aside and walks over to the glass bowl full of boy names. I'm not as nervous anymore. All I really cared about was Katniss not being picked but I guess the odds weren't exactly in my favor. Effie doesn't take as long at the boy bowl; when she is back at the podium she adjust the paper so she can read the name written on it. She coughs quietly then announces the name.

"Rory Hawthorne!" No. You have got to be kidding me! Two 12 year olds in the same reaping. I look over at Gale who doesn't seem as concerned as Katniss was when Prim's name was revealed. I slowly raise my arm into the air high enough for Effie, along with the peacekeepers to see me.

"I-I volunteer." Was I really doing this? For Katniss, for Prim, for Gale, for Hazelle.

**KATNISS'S POV:**

What was he doing? Was he doing this for me? If he was, I was definitely going to have to kill him. He stares at me the entire time as he is getting escorted to the aisle in the middle and up onto the stage. I bet he thinks that this will be good because he can make sure I stay safe. I bet he didn't think about the fact that I would never let him die! Only one tribute wins. Suddenly, from the center of the stage, I see another hand burst up.

"I volunteer!" The voice to me is unknown. Another group of peacekeepers make their way through the crowd and clutch the arms of a man. As they make their way to the center aisle, I await to see who else could have volunteered. When he is finally visible, I jaw drops again. Gale. Why were they doing this?

"Wow! Two volunteers for one tribute! Um- I don't think this has ever happened. Rory, you must be a special boy." Effie says as everyone turns their head to see Rory crying yet nodding his head. "Well Mr. Undersee, you're the mayor, what do you suggest we do?" The mayor made his way up the stage and started whispering with Effie, some peacekeepers, and Haymitch; who has been brought back on stage.

I can hear some of the things that they are saying. The peacekeepers say Peeta because he was the first to volunteer, Effie is just speechless, and I can't really make out what Haymitch says, but it apparently was good because they depart and Effie makes her way back up to the podium.

"After spitting out some idea, we have come to a conclusion!" She just stops there as if she is waiting for a drum role that was obviously not going to happen. "Oh sorry, I just haven't had this much excitement at a reaping! Ok so we have decided to have Katniss choose who goes with her." I become numb and I slowly begin to fall back. Luckily Peeta is behind me to catch me. I turn to him and shrug my shoulders. He gives me empathetic expression back. Why me? This wasn't right! Gale has been my friend for a while but I like Peeta and he cares about me so much; he would definitely protect me. Gale can hunt; but I can just see him ditching me during the games. I just want Peeta to be safe but when I'm in the games, will they change me? Change my feelings for Peeta? Would he be devastated if he had to watch me battle for my death? If I died, how would he handle it? How would Gale handle it? AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

"Ms. Everdeen? Do you have an answer?" Effie touches my shoulder. Now I can't help it. Tears begin to flood out of my puffy brown eyes. I shake my head back and forth.

"Katniss it will be ok. You are the strongest and bravest person I have ever met. Remember this answer will never affect anything between us. I promise." After Peeta says that, he presses his lips on mine once again. This time, this kiss meant something.

"I-I know my answer" I whisper. Everybody locks their eyes on me and I get a knot in my throat. Is this the right answer? Yes Katniss, this was the only way.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Hey everybody! On my way to Minnesota for my cousins graduation! Today was the last Friday of school…had a pretty rocking assembly! I would like to congratulate HappyKid21 for student council President, and WrittingImpaired for student council Vice President! I also added a line in this story from one of my friend OrangeNinjaAttack's stories. I was having troubles deciding who POV this chapter should be in…. Well I think I'm going to start typing. Enjoy…**

**PEETA'S POV:**

I stand behind her as she struggles to let the words slip out of her mouth. No matter the answer, I would be hurt in some way, rather it be emotionally or physically. Everybody is staring at Katniss who is almost choking on her own spit now. Then I think she finally has the guts to say it because she yanks the microphone from Effie's hands and turns to all the kids of district 12.

"I don't believe this is fair. First of all I shouldn't be standing up here, and I definitely shouldn't be deciding which of my "friends" are going to be going into the arena and risk their lives me. I-"she begins to say.

"Sweetheart, the decision has been made. We need the answer now." Haymitch says pushing through a line of peacekeepers. Her eyes turn to me again. Didn't she say she had already made a decision? Why is she waiting?

"I-I choose..." she gives me an innocent glare as she opens her small mouth. "Gale" Everybody from the audience gasps as she turns her head to look at Gale who is giving me a smirk. He had a plan, and I knew it wasn't going to be so good.

"Great choice! Now let's get you ready." Effie says pushing Gale and Katniss away from me and into two separate doors.

"Katniss! Wait!" I yell to her but she is already out of sight. Then drunk, old Haymitch walks over to me and places his sweaty scrapped up hand on my shoulder.

"She seems like a fighter. You can still see her before she goes." he informs me. Too bad I already knew that both of his comments were true. I nod my head to him and walk down from the stage. Why didn't she choose me? That's all I could think about as I headed over to the Everdeen's still standing in the back crying. I tried to calm down Prim as much as possible but the fact that I had started crying didn't help much.

"It's okay Prim. Katniss is the best hunter I have ever met. She is strong, brave and smart. Would you guys like to come with me to talk to her?" Prim looks a little less sad as she nods her head. I grab her hand and we droop over to the peacekeepers.

"We are here to see Katniss Everdeen." Prim tells the peacekeepers. They write our names down but before we began to walk to her room, I informed the peacekeepers that I would also be talking to Gale. They were a bit suspicious but they wrote my name down and let me through.

"How about I give you two sometime alone with Katniss and I will go say goodbye to Gale." I suggest to them. Prim gives me a nervous look; she knew that whatever I was going to talk to him about wasn't going to go so well. But Ms. Everdeen nods her head and her and Prim twists the handle to Katniss's room and they walk in. I can hear crazy crying from Prim, but I try to ignore it and go on my way to Gale's room. When I get to Gale's room, I have to wait a while because his brothers and mom are currently talking to him. They finally come out, all his brothers in tears and Hazelle (their mom) trying to comfort them all.

"Hey Gale" I acknowledge him.

"What are you doing her boy with the bread?" he growls at me. He had to know why I was here, wasn't it obvious from what went on at the reaping?

"You know why I am here. We need to talk! Katniss choose you because she didn't want me to get hurt, got it? She didn't pick you because she is madly in love with you. So don't go around acting like that now. Keep her safe in the arena, Gale. Do whatever you can to keep her alive, no funny business. Don't ditch her or do something stupid to her causing her to run off like last week. You got that all Hawthorne?" He looks as though he is going to slap me in the face but there is something holding him back.

"Have you talked to Katniss yet?" he asks me curiously.

"No, going there next. I wanted to give her and her family some alone time. Now Hawthorne, do you understand me. I care about Katniss so much it's not even funny." Now Gale definitely knew I liked her. I probably shouldn't have told him that; now he is going to purposely get Katniss to like him in the arena.

"Yeah I got it. You run along now; you don't want to miss saying goodbye to Katniss would you lover boy?" he pats my head and guides me to his door. I could tell by the expression on his face that he didn't care about anything that I had just told him. He slams the door in my face; as this happens, Prim and her mothers are escorted out of Katniss's room.

"It's your turn Peeta. Good luck." Prim runs up to me and gives me a huge hug. The sniffing coming from her if starting to get annoying and she is getting tears all over my nice reaping clothes; but I didn't care. She finally releases me from her grip and I slowly turn the doorknob but as I am pushing the door open, the door opens with force and Katniss comes running toward me. Her arms fling around me and she starts to cry into my shoulder. I have had to comfort too many people today.

"I-I am sorry Peeta. I-I couldn't let you risk your life for mine. I needed to keep you safe no matter what. With you still alive here, I have a reason to win the Games. I swear I will do everything I can to be the last tribute standing. I-I just wish I-" To get her to just shut up, I gently push my lips against her. She is taken by surprise, but she just goes along with it. She slowly pulls away and gives me a sad but happy smile. That was the best kiss I had ever had from Katniss Everdeen, and possibly my last. I stopped myself from thinking that way, she will be the last one standing, she will.

"It's okay, Katniss. Just know that I will love you forever, even in darkness. I love you always. In my mind we will never be separated. I promise I will make sure that your family gets food, even if it means me hunting." We both laugh when I say this. Ha, I'm not going to hunt. I have never hunted before in my life, but if kept Ms. Everdeen and Prim healthy, it's worth the risk.

"Do you know how lucky I am to have you? Very. Has anyone told you how awesome you are?" I shake my head and she gives me a short sigh. "I-I wasn't planning on telling you this but since I might not be alive I-" she begins.

"Don't you dare think like that! You WILL be the final tribute." I convince her but she turns her head and continues.

"Well before you unraveled your feelings for me, I-I kinda made a list reasons why I liked you. I just wanted to tell you before you get kicked out. A.) kind B.) caring C.) non-judgmental D.) funny E.) sweet." This surprises me.

"Wow Katniss. And before I told you my secret, I thought you didn't even know who I was." I add in.

"You saved my life once, now I am saving yours." When she says this I perk up remembering that day once again.

"I should have actually gone out and actually handed you that bread." I argue with myself. I was being selfish back then.

"No it's fine. Can I actually ask you a question about that?" I nod my head though majorly confused. "D-did you burn that bread on purpose?" This shocks me even more than what she told me earlier. How am I going to respond?

"Um I- yes I did. I was looking through the kitchen window and saw you out there. Back then I still had a crush on you so I wanted to help you. I "accidentally" dropped the bread in the fire so it got all burnt. My mother started screaming at me, and she told me to go feed it to the pigs. It was my plan all along." I lower my head so she can't see me blushing.

"Ever since that day I have been scared to talk to you. I always wanted to say thanks to you but you were always with friends and I didn't even know you that well. I have felt guilty every day of my life since then." I shake my head at her when these words spurt from her mouth. I hold her tightly in my arms.

"Hey can you promise me something Peeta?" she looks back up at me and asks. I softly nod my head awaiting her request. "No matter what I do, or what happens in the games, or what people force me to do, do you promise that things won't be any different between us, and we can go back to normal?"

"I promise. And the same goes for you. You have to promise that the Games won't change you in any way and that when we come back, you won't be madly in love with Gale and leave me to be lonely baking sadness cakes like old times." She giggles a bit when I say this. I trusted her, but I didn't trust Gale. I just knew he was going to do something to change her mind.

"I promise" She hugs me tightly again. I try to make this moment last as long as possible but my happiness is taken away when a peacekeeper comes in and harshly peels Katniss and I apart.

"Times up buddy!" he snaps. I try to break lose but his grasp was too hard.

"Peeta don't leave me!" Katniss screams to me.

"Katniss! Remember I-"But before I can finish, her door is slammed shut and the peacekeepers drag my outside to the stage where the reaping took place. She will never know what I wanted her to remember. Hopefully she got my idea. I am the only one left. I stand alone, the wind quietly rustling the leaves and making them fall to the rough ground. Being alone wasn't the best for me; I didn't need or want to think about today any longer. Step by step, I gradually make my way down the steps of the stage and droop home. My pace is as slow as a turtle trying to finish a race; maybe even slower. I try to take in everything that has happened today. I think about heading over to the Everdeen's for comfort but they needed to worry about Katniss, not me.

I reach the bakery to see my older brothers and parents sitting at the table laughing and having a great time. Did they not even care about me! Did they not care that the love of my life is going to be killed or even the fact that I hadn't come back from the reaping? My heart was officially broken. No Katniss and no family. How am I supposed to live now? I don't even bother to go inside and ruin their fun; I find the comfiest place behind the bakery and decide to sleep there. There was only one word that kept me sane right now. Hope.

**A/N: Sorry it ended so fast. I was getting really tired cause it was like midnight, and my sister was bugging me for the computer. Well I am in Minnesota now! I am probably going to write chapter 9 on the way back...**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: I'm on my way back to my hometown! I had serious writers block so I had a lot of help from my friend HappyKid21. Just to let you know…these next two or so chapter or going to go by really fast. Enjoy!**

**POV: Katniss**

After Peeta left I was heartbroken. I WAS going to win, I WAS going to come back, and I WASN'T going to be any different. I promised Peeta, and I have to keep that promise no matter what. Five minutes passes of complete silence in my room before two peacekeepers barge in and escort me to a wagon where Gale and Effie were already seated. I didn't want to see or even talk to Gale right now. In fact, I didn't want to talk to anyone.

As we made our way to the train, Effie was giving us the plans for the next couple of days. As usual, I wasn't listening. Everybody in district 12 was lined up to watch us depart. Some faces were sad but others were surprisingly happy. Happy?

When we got to the train, I look back to see that everybody had followed us. As I slowly hop out of the wagon I look back at all of them and wave my right hand slightly. I knew that the capitol had cameras on me 24-7 and why not make a good impression. Every single one of them begins to raise their left arm; they kiss three fingers on their hand and raise them up all the way. In Panem, this was the way to tell someone that they will be missed or to say goodbye to a loved one. I step back behind the wagon. I don't deserve that. Before I could begin to cry, I quickly make my way into the train.

My firstt step in is jaw dropping. Food beyond belief sit neatly on a glass table, the number of drinks are uncountable, motion activated doors, and many green velvet chairs. This is nothing Gale or I have ever experienced in my life. I just stand there for a second trying to take everything in.

"This is a good thing about being a tribute for the Hunger Games, even though you might not be alive in the next month, you at least get to experience all of this tremendous food and living space." Effie spits out. "Let me go get Haymitch, he's probably in the bar car." When she leaves, I sit down next to Gale.

"I know you don't want to talk to me, but d-do you even know Haymitch?" I ignore him when he says this. He grins at me then turns his head the opposite direction. Haymitch walks in holding a glass of one of the many alcohol beverages.

"Well hello. The next couple weeks are going to be heck, but realize, there is nothing I can do to help you." Gale sits up when Haymitch informs us.

"You're our mentor, you're supposed to help us, tell us secrets on how to survive, get sponsors." He is arguing with him.

"Well my information apparently doesn't help much. How many victors are there from district 12?" When Gale answers, Haymitch nods his head and takes another sip of his drink.

"I think that's enough" Gale reaches over to Haymitch to grab his drink. Before he could actually grab it, Haymitch lifts his leg and kicks Gale in the chest.

"You made me spill my drink." He announces. "I'm going to go back to the bar car." He gets up and slowly makes his way to the other car. On the way he is tripping on himself and running into shelves.

"I'm going to go talk to him." Gale tells me as he gets up and follows Haymitch. I am now left in a room all by myself. Why does our mentor have to be so stupid? Did the games really change him that much? I decide to slip into my temporary bed and go to sleep. I pray that Prim and my mother are safe. What was Prim going to do if she had a nightmare? And Peeta. He would have to go to school all by himself, and I'm betting everybody will be either making fun of him or asking him question about the reaping. As I am in thought, my eye lids become helpless and slowly attire.

The next morning I wake up and greet Haymitch and Gale who are conversing in the dining room. I feel awkward walking in on their conversation but I needed his help. Desperately.

"What are you talking about?" I ask them.

"Haymitch was just telling me how to survive in cold weather." he informs me. This is the first time we have talked since before the reaping.

"We have a while sweetheart. Just pass me the jam." he orders me.

"How do you survive?" I raise my voice higher. He just shakes his head and reaches his arm out to get the jam. I grab the knife next to me and stab it in-between his fingers. Haymitch looks up at me with surprise.

"That is mahogany!" Effie screams at me as she is applying her oddly colored makeup. We were approaching the capitol soon.

"Do we actually have fighters this year?" He asks Gale and me. We just look at each other and I can bet we are thinking the same thing. 'Aren't everyone fighters?' or 'Heck yeah we are fighters'. We continue discussing survival skills and what not until Gale stands up and peaks his head out the window.

"Is that it?" He says pointing out the window at a numerous buildings built with high quality and beautiful water displays. Yes, yes it was. That was the Capitol. It was way different than I imagined during History class. All of a sudden we are going through a black tunnel. When we can actually see light again, our train is surrounded by the people of the Capitol. Like I have read in books, each one of had almost scary makeup on and each person's hair was honestly a different color. Some were red, pink, orange, teal, blue, purple, violet, etc. They are all cheering for us; Gale is waving back at them.

"He knows what he's doing!" Haymitch glares up at Gale who is making every person in the Capitol like him even more. When we get out of the train, we are taken directly into a building. In this building I am placed on a table and a group of people with creepy faces begin to fix me up.

First they put me in a bath, then they pluck my eye brows, then they wax my legs. Apparently my legs were so hairy they had to wax me one more time. By the time I am done, I feel like a totally new person. I feel clean but still in pain. They show me to the room where I was to wait for my stylist. I wait for almost 10 minutes before the door opens and a man walks in. I sit up on the table and shake his hand.

"Hi, my name is Cinna. I am sorry that this is happening to you, and I am here to help you in the best way possible." This surprises me.

"Most people just congratulate me." I tell him.

"Well I don't think this is anything to be congratulated for." he adds in. "Now you have the tribute parade tonight and my partner and I have a great idea."

"So you're here to make me look pretty?" He shakes his head. "I am here to help you make a good impression." He disagrees. "Now you know that in this parade, you are supposed to dress like your district." He continues.

"Coal Miners." I softly mutter.

"But I don't want to do that. In your district you burn coal, and to burn coal you need fire." When he says this I begin to get kind of nervous. Fire? The next thing I know I am in a dark black body suit. I feel like I am in some kind of Halloween costume, but I just love Cinna's idea. He leads me to the location where Gale and his stylist, Portia planned on meeting. Gale is dressed exactly like me, I don't like it. I hope they aren't trying to make it look like we are great friends or anything.

"Remember this fire isn't real, it just looks real. There is nothing to be worried about." Cinna informs us. But deep down, I am freaking out. It is time for us to get on the chariot so Cinna and Portia help us up. The chariots in front of us begin to be pulled but we are last so we have some time. But time went by fast because after about twenty seconds it was our turn to go. We are pulled forward by a horse; I feel as though I am just going to fall out. Cinna yells something to us but neither of us could understand what he was telling us.

Right as we pass through the doors, our shoulders begin to blow fire out the back. Everybody in the crowd begins yelling and screaming our names. They must really love our costumes. They are throwing roses and chanting Gale's and my name.

Suddenly I feel something on my hand. I look down to see that Gale is trying to hold my hand. I quickly pull my hand away from his.

"They'll love it." He argues with me. For the capitol and hopefully sponsors, I grasp his hand and we hold them high up in the air. When we do this, the crowd roars even louder. I begin to smile as if I am having a good time. I can see my face on a screen up ahead.

When we get to the end of the route, President Snow talks a little bit about the Hunger Games and congratulates us and talks about a lot of more stuff. When he is done, we are taken back by Cinna, Portia, Haymitch and Effie.

"That was brilliant!" Effie screeches. Then Haymitch makes his way over to me and Gale.

"Good job sweetheart; it actually looked as though you two actually liked each other." He tells me. Was that his plan all along?

All I can think about is Peeta as we walk up to our room. Apparently we have the pent house because we are from district 12. Was Peeta killing himself right now? How did he feel about Gale and I holding hands?

When we get to our room my jaw drops once again. My reaction is almost the same as it was when we saw the train; but this room was incredible. Fancy green chairs, enough food to feed all of district 12, a whole wardrobe of clothes for me, and 4 bedrooms; one for me, one for gale, one for Haymitch and one for Effie. But of course there was a quite large area for Haymitch's alcohol beverages.

"Well let's eat!" No one but Effie sits down at the table. "I know this is going to be a long two weeks or so, but make the best of everything. If it makes you feel any better, I think this is the only room that lets their tributes have desserts!" That didn't cheer me up any more, but Gale and Haymitch take a seat next to Effie.

"Come sit, Katniss" Gale forces me as he grasps my arm and pulls me to the chair next to him. I pull my arm out of his grip angrily and shake my head to him. He gives me an innocent look that I have never seen before.

"I-I'm sorry Katniss" He apologizes. Everybody at the table is watching Gale and I now.

"Katniss please sit down." Effie asks me. Honestly, I did want to talk to them and get strategies from Haymitch, but I just had to think for a while. So much has happened in just one day.

"I-I'm not hungry" I lie. Without waiting for a response, I head up to my room. I put on some silk pajama pants and slowly crouch into my largely sized bed. I remember everything that I have done today; how am I supposed to do this for another week? Is the training center going to be hard tomorrow? Is Gale trying to sabotage me? On that note, I slowly drift into a deep sleep thinking about tomorrow.

"Peeta what are you doing!" my mother is screaming to Peeta. I look over to see Peeta standing on some kind of cliff. Where were we?

"No! I am sorry but I just can't live any longer! I have too much guilt and every time I watch her on the screen, it kills me Ms. Everdeen! It kills me! The way that Gale looks at her, it kills me! So why shouldn't I just die now?" He takes one step closer to the edge of the cliff.

"Peeta stop, please! You know that Katniss wouldn't like you doing this. What will she say when she comes back looking for you? 'Oh I am sorry Katniss he killed himself'? I can't do that to my daughter, and you can't do that to her either." He waits a little while but takes one last step to the edge. What happens next happens so fast.

"Peeta please. Take a step back. You can come back to my house, and I can cook you some squirrel and soup." He begins to cry but he nods his head and takes a step forward. He steps on a crack in the cliff and suddenly the cliff begins to break. Peeta tries to get back, but before he could take his last step, his foot twists on a rock and he falls down the cliff.

"PEETA!" I wake up screaming.

**A/N: I'm sorry it took so long for me to finish this. First of all I didn't know how to finish it, and then I've been really busy since I got back from MN because this was my last week of school! Today was our last day! SO MUCH FUN! Sad saying goodbye to the eighth graders I don't really know how the next chapter is going to go but keep reading and REVIEW!**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Just to let you all know…I'M NOT TEAM GALE! I HATE GALE! Well enjoy my story. I just want get through everything until the interviews, and the games. I don't know how I am going to write the games yet so bear with me. Review if you have any ideas.**

**Katniss' POV:**

"Katniss are you okay?" Gale rushes into my room. I knew it was a bad idea to choose Peeta; I wouldn't be having these dreams about Gale if I would have chosen him.

"Yeah I'm fine. Just one of my usual nightmares" I inform him. I really haven't had a nightmare since I started hunting with Gale after my dad died.

"Well do you want to go take a walk?" he asks me. I slowly nod my head, not one hundred percent sure on the decision I was making. I haven't talked to Gale this much in a long time. The tone in his voice reminds me of all the good times we have spent together. We walk up to the roof and we just sit there, and watch the sun rise.

"I'm sorry about everything that has happened. Last night, and the day of the reaping. I-I shouldn't have volunteered. Can I tell you the real reason why I volunteered?" Wasn't it obvious he volunteered because it was HIS brother that got picked not Peeta's? I nod my head and I await probably a longly worded explanation.

"Well you and Peeta have been spending a lot of time together, and it kind of bothers me. Well when Peeta volunteered, I got mad because that meant you guys would be spending every hour together for the next month. So I volunteered hoping that somehow I would be the one to go with you. I knew they would make you choose, and it was just a test for me. I didn't mean to put you through all the sadness." This shocks me a bit. So he volunteered just so I couldn't spend time with Peeta?

"Well say something?" he stares into my eyes. I attempt to avoid contact with his. I can't believe he would be so selfish.

"Why would you do that? This has put me through heck! I know it may have been hard to believe, but I was practically in love with Peeta, and now he is back home killing himself for letting me go into the games without him!" I scream at him. Without even waiting a second for a response, I pull myself up, and walk out of the room.

When I get back down, Effie and Haymitch are already eating breakfast. I join them before Gale could come back to apologize once again. Right as I begin to eat, Effie gets up and leaves the room; probably to go apply some more makeup.

"Are you ready to go to the training center?" Haymitch asks me. Was he actually sober?

"Yeah I think…any last tips?" I ask him. He has probably told Gale this a million times but either I wasn't listening, or I was having nightmares about Peeta.

"Just don't show them that you can shoot; leave that for the final showing. Try to make friends too. You want some allies when you are in the games." Allies? Was he being serious?

"I don't want any allies! I can survive on my own!" I argue with him.

"Whatever sweetheart." he gets back up and makes his way to his room. "Get dressed!" he yells from his room. I see Gale walk down from the roof finally, but I quickly sprint to my room so he wouldn't see me.

When everybody is ready, Haymitch takes Gale and I down to the training center. I am taken by surprise when I see every kind of survival skill known to man, sitting in the room. Anywhere from spears and archery, to camouflage and setting a fire. A girl walks in front of us tributes and begins to talk to us. It's the usual: rules, cautions, and schedules. Most of the stuff she tells us is common sense, but when she gets done I am clueless on where to go. I stand there for a while and look around at all my possible options.

I decide it's a good idea to go with Gale, but I can't seem to find him. Then I spot him throwing spears and mingling and laughing with the careers. What a jerk! With that said, I go over and I try some knot tying. Then the camouflage station, then the climbing, then lastly I try the spears. I think I am just going to stick with archery for now.

When the training center is finally over, I go back up to my room and put back on my green silk pajamas. It isn't actually time to go to bed, but I just feel the most comfortable in them. I go and find Haymitch (who is probably with Gale) for our training for the interviews. I needed desperate help. I wasn't good at making friends, so how am I supposed to get a whole nation to like me?

I finally find him sitting with Gale in Gale's room. I slowly knock on the door, when I do this Gale gets up and walks out of his room, softly rubbing against my shoulder.

"So are we going to start the training?" I ask Haymitch. What had they been talking about before I came in?

"Actually, Gale has asked to train separately." He informs me. Why in the world would he want to do that?

"Why does he want to do that! This isn't about this morning is it?" I ask him. He takes a while to respond, as if he is determining if he should tell me.

"What happened this morning" he asks trying to change the subject. I scream at the top of my lungs and I go back to my room. I begin kicking and screaming as if I am a two year old.

"I'm sorry Peeta! This was the biggest mistake I have ever made!" I continue screaming. Before I know it, there are tears dripping from my red puffy eyes. Then I hear a knock on the door; I am almost positive it was Gale. He probably heard me screaming.

"GO AWAY!" I yell to whoever is at the door.

"Sweetie it's just me" Effie tip toes into my room. "It's time to start your training. I am helping you with your appearance. I'm sorry about Gale and everything, but we must continue." Was Effie actually trying to be nice to me? I get up and she takes me to her bedroom.

For the next two hours or so she works with me on proper stance and sitting position. She teaches me how to walk in heals, and how NOT to trip over my dress; which is probably going to be amazing. By the end, my feet are so tried I don't even want to continue with Haymitch next. Effie leads me out and into Haymitch's room where he is pacing back and forth.

"I'm ready." I scowl. He gives me a frown back.

"What am I supposed to do with you? You have the personality of a dead slug!" I find this offensive but so I don't make him even more upset, I ignore this "meaningful" comments.

"Well what is Gale going as?" I ask. I doubt he would tell me but I guess I could try.

"Likable, but is secretly strong. But then it comes to you? What to do, what to do?" He continues pacing. Honestly, I didn't even know what I would be good at either. Two hours of thinking and experimenting is a waste because when it's time for the interviews, I have no idea what I am supposed to do.

Cinna puts me into a long red dress with sparkles, and flames at the bottom. These are the same flames that were used on the outfits we wore in the parade.

"So are you ready for the interviews?" he asks me. How did he know? Was it my occasional screaming and my heavy breathing?

"No! Haymitch didn't tell me anything. How am I supposed to get a whole nation to like me?" I tell him. He walks a little closer to me as if he has a secret for me.

"You got me to like you?" This was true.

"Well that was different….I wasn't even trying." This was true as well. I honestly don't know how I got him to like me?

"Just pretend that you are talking to me. I will be out in the crowd, just look for me. Or…." This was a great idea, but what was his other idea? "Or pretend you are talking to Peeta." This takes me by surprise; he knew about Peeta and I?

"H-How do you know?" I ask him.

"I watched your reaping…isn't it obvious?" I begin to blush in embarrassment.

When I am finally dressed, Cinna leads me to Haymitch and Gale who are already in line for the interviews.

"You look good." Gale compliments me. I ignore him as well as Haymitch as he is whispering to Cinna about me. District by district each girl then boy are taken up on stage by Caeser. Everybody seems to be doing perfect. How could they be so prepared and not nervous? Cute little Rue is up now; she is so small, but from what she says, she shouldn't be underestimated. Now that is the kind of ally I would want. Finally, it's my turn.

"From district 12, you know her as the girl on fire, Katniss Everdeen!" Caeser Flickerman shouts which is my signal to walk on the stage. I take a big gulp and walk out on stage. My vision goes blurry as I turn to see the hundreds of people screaming my name. I finally am in my seat and Caeser is staring at me oddly.

"What?" I say. Everybody in the crowd begins to laugh at me. This interview was going to be terrible.

"I said: That was one big entrance you made at the tribute parade." He says to me. I try to find Cinna out in the crowd before answering his questions. I finally spot him sitting next to a group of random capitol people.

"I know. After I got over my fear of fire." Everybody in the crowd begins laughing again. "Cinna is just an amazing stylist. Just look at this dress." I stand up and show the dress to everybody in their seats. I spot Cinna once again, and he is spinning one of his fingers in the air, indicating that I should twirl. As he insists, I twirl and the fake fire from my dress spins with me as well. Now everybody is hooting and howling. This is actually kind of fun. Then I become dizzy so I sit back down.

"That was incredible; he really is a good stylist, you got lucky. So what has been your favorite thing in the capitol so far?" This answer was obvious.

"Obviously the lamb stew! I eat it all the time." The crowd laughs again. They must just really love me because the answers I am giving aren't meant to be funny.

"Ok last question." He sits up straight on his chair before he begins. "I know everybody in the Capitol has watched your reaping. How did you feel when your sister got reaped?"

"I was surprised. Her name was in their once. But I saw her afterwards, and I-I told her I would try to win for her." I swore before the interview I wouldn't cry, and I hope to keep that promise to myself.

"And Peeta?" What am I supposed to say about him? "That was one big decision you had to make. What made you decide Gale?" Was I really eligible to tell everybody this?

"Yeah, that was the probably the biggest decision I have ever made in my life. I chose Gale b-because-" I take a big gulp then finally spit out what I have been trying to say. "I wanted to keep Peeta safe. W-we are kind of-" I had to word this the best way possible, the capitol could think of it in a different way. "Together" The whole crowd gasps and Caeser takes my hand.

"Well our hearts go out to you. Best of luck, Katniss Everdeen! District 12!" I trot off the stage to be greeted by Effie and Haymitch.

"That was great!" Effie says while hugging me. "Perfect posture! I taught you well!" She continues. I quickly peel away.

"Good job sweetheart." Haymitch tells me before we go over to the television screen to watch Gale's interview. I knew right now, Peeta was either crying (because I mentioned him), smiling (because I told the whole world we are together) or killing himself (because I chose Gale).

"Well Gale, what has been the biggest change in the Capitol for you?" He asks him.

"The showers" Everybody laughs; I guess he was trying to be likable. "Tell me Caeser, do I smell like roses?" Gale leans in toward Caeser and he takes a wiff of him and nods his head.

"Now tell me Gale, is there a special girl back home?" He slowly shakes his head. He was lying. He has probably been with every girl in district 12.

"Come on! A quite handsome and charming boy like you has to have someone special, right?" Caeser argues. Was he setting something up?

"Well there is this girl but she doesn't even know I like her. I have tried to tell her before, but she is always busy with her boyfriend." he sadly says.

"Well here's what you do. You win these games, and there is no way she will turn you down. She will end it with her current boyfriend and run into your arms." Gale nods at his advice but then begins to say something. How do I not know about this mystery girl he likes? I know almost everything about Gale?

"I don't think that plan will work, sorry Caeser." he tells him. Now he is starting to kill me. I turn to Haymtich and ask him what he is doing, but he just ignores me and continues watching.

"Why is that Gale?" Gale takes a deep breath along with a big gulp then finally spits out his secret.

"B-because she came here with me." My jaw drops and I turn to Haymitch who nods his head at me. I just wanted to run out on the stage and punch him in the face! Was he telling the truth? Or was this just a setup?

**PEETA'S POV:**

"I'M GONNA KILL THAT KID!" I yell all alone in the bakery. I run to the front of the bakery, grab broom and begin to smash all the front windows of the bakery. I push the register off the counter and all the money goes flying. I run to the back and throw all the cookies and cakes I have made on the floor. I run to my closet and roll into a ball. I just sit there and cry for a while. What am I supposed to do now?

After a while of thinking, I pack all my stuff into a bag that I found in my brother room and I walk back downstairs. I look around at the damage I have made, it surprises me a lot. Ever since Katniss has been reaped, I haven't been the same. Without leaving a note of any sort, I begin to walk in a random direction. I had no one to love, and no one loves me so why should stay? I take one look back at the vandalized and broken down bakery but then continue walking in the opposite direction of the Seam.

**A/N: Sorry this one is really long; I wanted to get the interview over with. And I am sorry that these last 2 chapters haven't been that different than the actual book, but I just am not creative enough to think of an alternate approach on it. Hopefully the games won't be the same. **


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Sorry I'm writing this kind of soon…I'm just really bored because I'm not allowed to watch TV After I published chapter 10, I forgot all about the training scores and the thing in front of the gamemakers! I feel so stupid. I think in one of these chapters I'm going to have more of Peeta's POV because I like writing as him the best. Or maybe Gale…I don't know? Review if you have ANY ideas for the games! Enjoy! (::)(::)**

**KATNISS'S POV:**

Right now, I didn't care as much about what Gale said; all I could care about was what Peeta must be doing right now. He probably saw this coming, but how is he going to handle it? I am taken up to the room before Gale, so no one can see us fighting in the elevators. As soon Gale walks in, I throw my firm fist at his face.

"This was your plan all along! Make me look weak! Peeta is probably killing himself right now because of what you said!" I back away from him as he holds his nose where I punched him.

"I don't care about your poor little baker boy! And I made you look desirable! You should be thanking me!" He argued back.

"I already was desirable! I was desirable after I said I had a boyfriend!" His face begins to turn red and he stomps to his room. On his way he hits down a nice vase, and some food off the table. I stand there for a while, before Haymitch comes out of Gale's room.

"Why did you punch him?" Haymitch asks me.

"That is all a lie! Now there is stupid love triangle!" I tell him.

"That's what you think…or at least want to think." He says then takes a bottle of beer and continues to his room. Was he telling the truth? The way he said it just made me even more certain he was telling the truth.

The games are tomorrow and I am not ready at all. The only way I even have a chance in the games is if everything between Gale and I are ok. I go to sleep on that note. It wasn't long before I hear knocking on my bedroom door. I get up and turn the knob quietly to see Gale standing there in a white shirt and red plaid pajama pants.

"What do you want?" I ask him. He gives me that innocent look that I have never seen from him prior to the reaping.

"I-I can't sleep. Can I hang in here for a while?" he asks. Yes, I was still mad at him, but it was the beginning of the road back to our friendship….if you want to think about it that way?

"Sure." Everything after that is awkward because I honestly don't know what I should be doing. It's the last night that I might actually be alive; shouldn't I be getting some sleep? But trying to sleep while Gale is staring at you is just weird. I don't want to start conversation with him because I'm scared.

"Hey, um, I'm sorry about earlier today. I didn't mean to punch you, I-I was just scared and sad and mad." I apologize. His big brown eyes stare directly at me.

"It's fine. You should have known about the plan." he agrees. Would it be weird if I asked him if he was telling the truth? I erase that question from my mind and we just continue talking about home and the games tomorrow.

"Well I think we should really get some sleep. I'll see you on that platform." I tell him. With no brain in my head, I go up to him and wrap my arms around him. This is the last time I might actually see him.

"Good luck tomorrow, Catnip." he pulls away and slowly makes his way out of my room. He hasn't called me Catnip in a long time? Why all a sudden? I bury myself back in my blankets and pillows, and drift into a deep sleep.

**PEETA'S POV:**

I'm tired, I'm starving, and I smell kind of funny. I have no idea where I am. I could still be in district 12 somewhere, I could be in district 11, or maybe if I really walk that fast I could be in district 10? All I knew was tomorrow was the first day of the Hunger Games. I wasn't going to sit in front of a crappy TV and watch the girl I love die in the blood bath. Finally in the distance, I see a person holding a large bag of something.

"Excuse me sir. Could you tell me where I am?" The guy turns around and gives me a very distinct look before answering my question.

"D-district 11. A-aren't you that kid from district 12? What's your name? Peeta?" How did he know me?

"Yep that's me." I inform him. He has a little freak attack before giving me some very helpful information.

"Kid, you have to get out of here. I'm surprised you go into district 11 so easily, but if any Peacekeepers see you and recognize who you are, they will send you to the capitol and torcher you. Run!" I think he is being silly for a minute, but after thinking about the different reasons why they would torture me, I decide to take his advice and go home.

The walk back to district 12 seems longer than it was when I left. When I finally approach my bakery, it is surrounded by peacekeepers and my parents and brothers who are inside freaking out. They don't know that I did it, and they will never find out. I sneak past the bakery and head over to the Everdeen's; they seem to be the only people that can keep me sane.

"Peeta!" Prim comes out of the house screaming.

"Would it be okay if I stay here a while? I can't exactly go home." Prim gives me a questionable look, but she runs inside to ask her mom. Her mom comes to the door and her jaw drops.

"Peeta what happened to you?" She leads me into her house and tells me to sit on her couch.

"I-I kind of went to district 11." Prim's facial expression perks up as if she has thousands of questions to ask me.

"Now why in the world would you do that, Peeta?" I take a deep breath before answering.

"Last night I was watching the interviews, and um-" Had they seen them? "I kind of freaked out when Gale said he loved Katniss. I was the one that vandalized and ruined the bakery out of anger. I knew from the moment he volunteered that he would take advantage of her."

"I always knew Gale liked Katniss!" Prim says clapping and jumping up and down.

"PRIM!" Ms. Everdeen scolds her. "Sorry Peeta" Prim apologizes.

"Can we stop talking about this please? The games are starting soon." I politely ask and Ms. Everdeen turns on the Game as I requested. Please Katniss, please stay with me. Don't be stupid and go into the blood bath. Prim scoots next to me and pats my back softly.

"It's going to be okay, Peeta" Why wasn't my family like this?

While we wait for the final countdown, Caeser and Claudius run through the training scores again. It didn't surprise me that Katniss got an 11, she's just that skilled. I wonder what was so great that she showed the gamemakers? I fast forward as they go through portions of each district's interviews. What could Katniss possibly be doing right now? She is probably so nervous; I know I would be. How does she feel about the whole "love triangle" between her, Gale and I?

Then, suddenly Caeser shows us every tribute getting prepared. They are all in a small white room with their stylist. The tributes from districts one and two seem very much prepared, and are even acting a little cocky. As each tribute from district to district continues, you can see the confidence level fading. When they get to district 11, Rue is sobbing into her stylist chest. The fact that she is a 12 year old and is about to fight to her death, makes it okay.

In the upper corner of their television, a circle that reads "district 12" pops up, and before I knew it we were looking at Gale in his room. I didn't personally care how he was doing, but Prim and Ms. Everdeen were interested so I didn't change the channel for the time being.

"Oh look at him all dressed up and ready to fight!" Prim says cheerfully. Then the screen changes and Katniss is shown. I lean in closer to the screen; this is the closest I have been to her since the reaping. She is wearing her hair in one long braid as I always like it. Before she is taken off the screen, they show Cinna pinning something onto the inside of her jacket. What could it be? The camera zooms in on it, and I notice that it is the mocking jay pin that she bought that one day she took me to the black market. Then she is gone.

Caeser and Claudius talk some more before the television starts counting down from 60. Once they get to 45 seconds, they show us the platforms where they will be coming up. After 30 seconds has passed, each tribute slowly begins to pop up from an underground tube. The last person to come up is Katniss; I watch her look around with her beautiful brown eyes. I see Gale trying to get Katniss' attention, but she is too busy looking for her bow and arrows. Her face lights up when her eyes narrow in on a small silver backpack that is holding about a dozen metal arrows, with a bow by its side. Don't do it Katniss, don't get sucked in. Finally it begins to count down from 10.

"10." Please don't Katniss.

"9." Just run Katniss, just run!

"8." I can't afford to lose you.

"7." This is there plan!

"6." Please…

"5." Gale you better keep her safe!

"4." Don't get any ideas either.

"3." She's going to make it Peeta.

"2." Please survive and stay safe.

"1." I love you.

**KATNISS'S POV:**

"I love you, Peeta" I whisper under my breath. Here. We. Go.

**A/N: I want to say thanks to HappyKid21, because she helped me figure out who the countdown's POV should be in. Also thanks to everyone that has made reviews! MORE COOKIES! (::)(::)(::)**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: I just got my whole Hunger Game idea approved by my friend! So I don't know how many chapters it's going to take to get it all in. REVIEW! If you have any ideas for the games, I would surely take them into consideration! I came up with my idea in 5 minutes at 12 o'clock at night. Enjoy…**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games, or any of Susanne Collins writing.**

**Katniss's POV:**

By disobeying Haymitch's rule, I run full force into the dreadful blood bath. Every second it takes me to reach upon the cornucopia; I watch a tribute get their neck broken, a knife to the heart, or a sword to the leg. I'm overly surprised that I have yet to be touched. My eyes are still locked on the shiny metal bow and arrows. I was determined to do _whatever_ it took to have them in my possession.

A sudden pain in my left legs causes me drop to my knees. I slowly get the energy to twist my head to see that there was blood dripping down the back of my leg. Then I see Glimmer running faster than usual to me. She must have been the one who hit me. What did I ever do to her? Then I realize she isn't determined to kill me, her eyes are focused on the same and only bag of bows and arrows. This was going to be a big fight.

I pick myself up and limp as fast as I can toward the bag. By the time I get there, Glimmer is right on my back. She jumps on me and we both go tumbling to the ground. This is almost like the intense chick fights that always happen back in district 12. Usually they are over some guy; like Gale. She pulls out a knife from her backpack and points it at my nose.

"Now how are you, district 12." She moves the knife down to my neck and is nearly choking me with it. I roll her over and take a knife out of the ground from a nearby killing.

"What do you want? The bow and arrows are mine." I inform her. She slaps me across the face and rolls back on top of me.

"Oh what makes you get them? I'm surprised you know how to use one? Did your daddy teach you, district 12?" she asks me. I get so much anger in me that I take the knife and cut her forehead. As she suffers in pain, I make my way over to the bag that is still sitting there untouched. Before I can run away from this terrible battle arena, Glimmer stands back up and slowly heads towards me; I begin to run away.

"Wait! I have a proposal for you!" This takes me by surprise. What would a career want to do with me? So as requested, I turn towards her; yet I was too afraid to move any closer to her. The fact that she almost tried to kill me didn't make me trust any more than I did in the training center.

"How would you like to become my ally? Join me and the other careers. From what just happened a second ago, with you on our side, we will be unstoppable!" She skips over to me while swinging her long luscious blonde hair back and forth.

"What's the catch?" I ask her, knowing that there would certainly be a catch. A career wouldn't just ask a tribute from a district 12 to be their ally.

"No catch! You are just really…how should I word it…."talented"." I stop and think for a while. Was I making the right choice? What would Peeta do? "So you in?" she asks one more time as if she is getting irritated.

"I'm in." I softly whisper but apparently loud enough for her to hear my response. We both pick up our bags that we got during the blood bath, and we head off to where Glimmer claims the groups planned on meeting.

The walk is full of screams from all over, people were still getting attacked. We walked east into the woods until we got to a small little pond. To look impressive, I take a bow and shoot a small innocent bunny that was hopping along near it. We continue walking into the wonder of trees. The arena reminded me of the woods back home.

Finally, we come up upon a pretty large cave hidden beneath a hill of grass. Once we get down there, we both hear yelling coming from Cato.

"Why did you get this guy! I told you to get the** girl** from twe-" Before he finishes his sentence he turns his head in surprise to see me standing next to Glimmer. I could tell he had been yelling at the boy from district 1, because he was in the corner not talking anymore.

"Well, hello Katniss. I see you decided to join us. Your help is greatly appreciated." I find this hard to believe, because in the training center he looked as though he just wanted to come and stab me. I just nod, and on that note and he begins to introduce me. "Over there we got Marvel, district 1; I see you have already met Glimmer, district 1; this is Clove, district 2; and I am Cato, district 2 as well." He says as he goes around pointing to each person individually. Then out of know where, I figure stands up from behind a large old rock.

"Aren't you forgetting about me?" I knew that voice….why was it so familiar? No.

"Oh yeah this is Gale, district 12. You know him already; guess that was pointless of me." He begins to chuckle. Why was Gale with the careers? This doesn't seem like something that he would do; from hunting with him, I thought he was more of an "independent" type of person.

"Well stop just standing around everyone! Get your butts up and let's head out!" Cato screams at us. That was mean. But I follow his instructions and follow behind everyone out of the cave with the bow and arrows in my hand.

First we run out to the cornucopia to kill any people that decided to come back after the blood bath. Both tributes from district 9 are there grabbing some spears. Cato decides to send Marvel and Clove to kill them both. I can't see them kill them, but I hear a high pitched scream then the boom of the canon. 2 down.

As we move on from section to section searches for innocent kids to kill, I can't help but thinking why it is so easy for these guys to kill these poor people. They have family back home, maybe even a boyfriend or girlfriend. With no areas left to investigate, we head back to the cave for the night. I'm on lookout first, so the others can sleep.

Approximately 20 minutes into my scoping job, I feel someone put their hands gently on my shoulders. I turn around and see Gale starring down at me. It takes me a while to realize that we haven't even talked to each other since days before the games.

"What are you doing here?" I ask him, when I have no other idea of what to say.

"Well, I thought I would come out here and join you. I can't seem to fall asleep anyways." He comes and sits on the rock next to me. Suddenly, I look up when the Panem anthem begins to play. They begin to show us all of the tributes that had died in the blood bath from earlier today.

District 3: Boy and Girl

District 4: Girl

District 5: Boy

District 6: Boy and Girl

District 7: Boy and Girl

District 8: Girl

District 9: Boy and Girl

District 10: Boy

Then the pixilated sky turns back to being pitch black and the anthem finishes. It took me by surprise to see Rue was still alive. She was right, we shouldn't underestimate her. Without notice, Gale pushes me off the rock.

"Go get some sleep, I can handle it out here." he requests while helping me up.

"No I'm fine. You need help, don't you?" I suggest. I know he would refuse, but it was worth a shot.

"No, no, no! Go get some sleep. Is something wrong?" he asks me. I sat there thinking for a minute. What was wrong?

"It's just-" I stop and shudder. I know I couldn't say it that loud, so I bring my tone down to a whisper. "I-I am kind of afraid of them. I feel like they are just going to wake up in the middle of the night….and kill me." he doesn't look too surprised by my answer.

"Yeah I know. That was one of the reasons why I couldn't sleep. Just sleep out here, I'll make sure no one touches you, I promise." I trusted him when he said this. I lay down next to the rock where he was sitting, pull out my sleeping bag that I got in a bag I picked up at the cornucopia. I wrap myself around it and begin to sleep. I dream about home. My mom, Prim, hunting, Madge, the Hawthorne's, my bow and arrow, school, but most important…Peeta. When I wake up, Gale is still sitting silently on the rock watching me.

"How was your sleep?" He asks me. Did he end up getting any sleep?

"It was fine. Did you sleep?" I ask him back.

"Nope. In the middle of the night, Cato and Marvel came out, but I sent them back in. I promised you I wouldn't let anyone touch you. I knew that if you woke up with one of them on your side, you'd be scared to death. By the way, you are a very pleasant sleeper." Did Gale care about me that much? If we both ran off together right now, would they come to kill us? "What's on your mind?" Gale asks me. He can probably tell I've been thinking about something from my distinct thinking face. I use it all the time when we go hunting.

"Do you just want to ru-" Before I can finish my sentence, Cato and Glimmer come out of the cave giggling with each other. Odd. Eventually, they have all followed them out and we are all in a group huddle discussing our plans for the day. Cato says that we are going to split up into groups of 2, and just go wondering.

Gale and I are put together. I don't bring up the question I was thinking earlier, this wasn't the time. We wonder the woods together looking for food, shelter, people, or weapons. The only thing we actually find at the end of the day is a bush of berries. I have to remind Gale and all the others that they are "night lock" berries; they would be used as a weapon opposed to a food. I give them to Cato, and he puts my bag into a pile of other weapons. At the end of the day, we have set up a huge pile of our resources. It's about 10 feet tall and 10 feet wide. Inside this pile, is probably every single kind of weapon and everything you would need to survive. Then Cato begins to talk again.

"Okay guys. Shut up!" That gets everybody's attention. Reason number 2, why they scare me. "Now everyday our goal is to have at least one kill, two if it's a good day. Today since we spent the most of the day searching for resources, we are only going to kill one person. We decided this person last night before we went to sleep, if you don't remember. Sorry Katniss, you weren't there to vote. But we got everybody to agree on one person." Who could it be? We would probably kill anyone if we all go in a group to kill each and every one of them. I hope it's not Thresh; he is so tall and muscular, he'd crush us all.

"S-so who did you pick?" I mumble under my breath. I shoot Gale a worried look but he tries to ignore contact with my eyes. What was his problem? We just spent nice quality time together, and he can't even look me in the eyes.

"Rue" Cato announces. No

**A/N: Sorry this is coming really late. I just was having troubles writing this chapter because I find it hard to write the games! I wrote this on my way to my soccer tournament this weekend, and we didn't have wi-fi there so I'm posting it now! REVIEW PLEASE! YOU GET COOKIES! (::) (::) (::) Don't worry, they are not raisin! ;)**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Hey guys! I decided to write this chapter as soon as possible because my goal for June was 1,000 visitors and it just hit me that **_**today **_**is the last day of June! It might not be my best chapter…but I will try my hardest. Thanks to HappyKid21, who helped me figure out the best way to write this chapter! (Different POV's) Enjoy now…..**

**Katniss's POV:**

This was a mistake. I should have never joined together with these people; they don't realize that she is twelve and has a whole life ahead of her. Everyone stares at me with happy faces; did they think I was happy with this? There was no way I was going to kill Rue, even if that meant leaving the careers…and Gale.

"Well stop sitting around! You guys are just useless idiots, let's get going." Cato says as he retrieves his spears from the ground and stomps off. Everyone but me follows him; what was I going to do? I couldn't just let them kill Rue, but I can't just leave them and not save her.

"Are you coming?" Gale turns around and asks me. He must have noticed that I hadn't followed as Cato had requested. I couldn't tell him my plan; he would definitely tell the careers where I was if they asked him.

"I'll catch up with you in a bit." I just leave it at that and walk away. He doesn't come running after me like I expect but instead he runs back to Cato. I run as fast I can through the woods in the opposite direction of the careers. As I run, I skim every single inch of the trees and ground making sure that I don't miss Rue. Nothing or nobody was going to stop me from finding Rue before Cato and all them. It was my duty to keep her safe. Peeta would do the same…

**Rue's POV:**

When leaves on the trees rustle from the wind, I jump in fright. It's still hard for me to believe that no one has come looking for me. I am the youngest in the competition, and I don't think any other tribute actually cares about me. After making sure no one was in my sight, I climb down from the top of a tall oak tree and begin to adventure through the arena.

I come across a small little cave beneath the ground near a tiny pond. When I enter, I can see that someone had been there; a spear and a couple knives lay in the back corner with blood stained on them. I am tempted to take them but if anyone found out I took them, they'd kill me. There is also a bow and arrows untouched in the corner, I am tempted to take them as well, but before I could, I hear someone coming from outside the cave. I don't think I have been this scared since when I was 5 and there was a huge fire in district 11. I sprint out of the cave as fast as I can.

When I get out, the girl district 12 is running as fast as she can towards me. She was coming to kill me, I knew it! I run back into the cave and grab the nearest knife to me. I wait at the entrance of the cave for her to walk in. After a good five minutes or so of waiting, I get impatient and decide to walk out and see if she's still there.

She is standing on the other side of the cave holding a bag. We just exchange stares for a while; I could possibly be intimidating her with my knife. Then she begins to walk my way, with her hands up in the air as if she is about to get arrested.

"I'm not here to hurt you." she informs me. With this said, I begin to move closer to her.

"A-Aren't you with the careers?" I ask her. She slowly shakes her head.

"You need to come with me Rue. The careers are coming to kill you, I need to keep you safe." she tells me. I trusted her more than any other tribute in these games; other than Thresh of course, he was like my big brother. "Put the knife down, and follow me. I promise I won't hurt you." I drop the knife and begin to follow her.

"Hey, were those bow and arrows yours?" I ask her. I knew she was with the careers at one point, and I had observed her fight with Glimmer over them.

"Yeah. I'm surprised they didn't take them with them to kill you. I should go get them." I follow her back into the cave. She sticks them into her small bag, and we head out. We stay the night lying in a really tall tree about a mile or so from the cave.

"Katniss, why did you leave the careers to come save me?" I decide to ask her. I really didn't think about the question before it popped out of my mouth. It takes her a while to answer but eventually she has the energy to spit it out.

"I have a younger sister back home, Prim. You remind me so much of her, and I couldn't let anything happen to you just as I wouldn't let anything happen to her. I can't even imagine her having to endure all of this. You are a really strong girl, Rue. I will do whatever I can to keep you alive." Did she really care about me that much? I cuddle into her arms for the night.

In the morning, we go out and shoot some squirrels that we see. Then we head back to the cave to grab the knives and spears that the careers left behind. I liked Katniss; she kind of felt like the mom I never had. When we are in the cave, Katniss tells me to go stand in the corner and wait. Did she hear something? She carefully comes back in, avoiding stepping on anything that would make a loud noise.

"Rue, stay here. Don't say anything, don't move, don't do anything. The careers on their way back. I'm so sorry for bringing you back here. I'll deal with them." she whispers to me. I stand up to give her a tight hug and she walks out. After that, I knew for sure that this was my last day alive.

**Katniss's POV:**

I never really thought about how I would die; but the fact I would die to save a little girls life seemed like a good way to. This was going to be a fight; maybe big, maybe small. As I can hear the chatter of them moving closer, I grip my bow and arrow even tighter. With my arrow all set up and ready to shoot, I wait for them to make their first step from behind the tree covering me from their sight.

I can hear Marvel and Clove's voice the loudest from where I was; they must be the first coming. Suddenly, Marvel comes running past me towards the cave. I was too far from the cave to run back to save Rue. With nothing else to do, I release the arrow from my sweaty hands. The arrow hits him right in his neck and blood drips down his back. I take another arrow from my bag and put in position to shoot again. I make my way to the cave and tell Rue that she has to leave.

"Rue, you gotta get out of here! NOW!" she picks up the spears and knives and we run as fast as we can to the entrance of the cave. Before we can go anywhere, Cato and Glimmer are standing in front of the entrance waiting for us. Clove is too busy taking care of Marvel; though there was no way he could survive.

"Come out girls. You can't escape." Cato is chanting along with Glimmer. I look over to Rue when I feel her poking my shoulder.

"Shoot an arrow over there." she says as she points at a tree that is about a couple hundred feet from the cave. As requested, I shoot then arrow even though I had no idea where Rue was going with this plan. I turn around to ask her what to do next, but she is gone. Where had she gone? Then I see her waving at me from the tree I had just shot. She must have snuck out when I shot the arrow because the careers were focused on who shot that.

I decide to just run out of the cave without caring about the careers being there. They all come running at me. The only thing I could do was punch them all in the faces and run behind a nearby rock. Without notice, they all come behind me and hold me tightly. Cato and Glimmer have me in a head lock and are choking me. Clove is tightly attached to my legs holding me down. Cato takes a knife and holds it to my neck.

"We wouldn't be in this situation is you hadn't left us. I wonder what your lover boy back home is thinking? Any last words?" They stop choking me for a second so I can say what I need to say.

"Gale! Help me, please!" Instead of running over and knocking them out, he begins to cry and shakes his head. What was his issue? I thought he loved me; but he won't even keep my alive. Why did I choose Gale? Once again, worst decision I have ever made in my entire life. Then Cato begins to count down from 10.

"10…9…8…7…6...5…4…3…2" he starts, but before he could slit my neck, the grip around my neck loosens and I watch Glimmer fall to ground. I turn to see Rue, standing behind her with a bloody knife in her hand. Cato falls to her side to assist her.

"Rue, start running east! I will meet up with you when I'm done here. Call the mocking jays when you get to a safe place. Got it?" I ask her.

"Yeah. Stay safe, Katniss." she runs towards me to give me a quick hug and then she speeds away. After she's out of my sight, I go over to Gale and throw my fist at his face.

"What the h*** is your problem! First you tell me you "love" me then you refuse to help me! You would rather have me die wouldn't you!" I begin to scream at him. Sometime throughout my yelling, I began to cry.

"I'm sorry Katniss, it's just I-" he argues. Before he could finish, I cut him off once again by punching him in his face.

"SHUT UP! J-just don't talk to me anymore! I hate you Gale!" Without even waiting for another word out of his mouth, I run away to go find Rue. As I walk away from the scene I feel an urgent pain in my right leg. I slightly turn my head to see Cato's sword jabbed into my leg. I pull it out of my leg and continue limping back to find Rue.

"Katniss, are you okay? Let me help you!" Gale comes over to me.

"No I'm fine! Just leave me alone, I can deal with it by myself. I'm not the 14 year old girl you met in the woods anymore." I say as I limp away even faster. The more I walk the dizzier I get. For the first time since the accident, I turn my head to see that I have left a river of blood from the battle grounds. The gash is bigger than I thought; the skin that was there has disappeared and the only thing I can see are my red injured muscles.

Suddenly I hear the mocking jays singing from above the tall trees. At least Rue was safe. Now all I had to was get to her, and hopefully Haymitch would give me some ointment for my leg. But before I could take one step in any direction, my legs loose feeling and I fall onto my back. All I can see is complete darkness.

Then, I see myself with my dad the day before he died in the mine explosion. I see my first day hunting with Gale. I see the day that Prim was born. The day that my dad taught me how to shoot an arrow. My first day of school. The day of the reaping. The day that Peeta confessed his feeling for me. Lastly, my first kiss with Peeta. Then it stopped; my vision still completely black.

Peeta's POV:

There was nothing for me to do now than kill Gale. I told him specifically to keep her safe and do whatever it took to keep her safe. All I can think about is what if Rue hadn't been there to kill Glimmer. Would Katniss be dead? The fact that Katniss didn't get hurt at all in the battle made me feel a little less angry. I walk into the kitchen of the Everdeen's to get a quick glass of dirty water, than walk back into the room to see Prim crying her head off on Ms. Everdeen's shoulder. What did I miss?

"W-what's wrong?" I ask them curiously. Without them answering, I stare at the screen to see a rerun of the conversation Katniss had with Gale. Good for her! Why were they crying though? Then I watch Cato come up behind her and stab her in the leg with a sword.

"NOOO!" I scream at the top of my lungs. How could this be happening? They show her walking it off, but before she could get very far she falls to the ground. Was she dead? Did she loose too much blood? "No, No, No! Get up Katniss! Please…listen to me. Find my voice, get up. Find water, find Rue, live!" I scream to the television screen. She still lays there passed out…hopefully. The longer I wait for her to get up, the sadder I get. She wasn't getting up was she? I begin to cry, and head off to bed. Katniss was dead. Gale had practically killed her. How could I have left the girl I love go into the arena? What kind of person am I? I slowly cry myself to sleep.

**Katniss's POV:**

Out of the black darkness, I suddenly see a face appear in front of me. It's Peeta.

"_No, No, No! Get up Katniss! Please…listen to me. Find my voice, get up. Find water, find Rue, live!"_ I hear him say. Was this really him? I had to listen to Peeta, I loved him. All of a sudden, my vision becomes clear. I'm still alive.

"Thanks Peeta." I whisper to myself.

**A/N: I'm sorry this got kind of long. It took me 4 hours to write this….so I was obvious having troubles. I didn't really know how I wanted this all to go down. And I'm sorry for all the POV changes, I wasn't planning on having Peeta at all, but I just love writing as him. **


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Hey, I hope you all liked my last chapter! I was babysitting last night, and my parents told me that I should write some fan fiction, so I did! I only wrote a little so I'm finishing it up now. Thanks for the reviews…..KEEP REVIEWING! I need as much help as I can get! If you're a Galeniss fan, you definitely gotta go check out my friend HappyKid21's story! It's getting pretty intense! Enjoy…**

**Rue's POV:**

Katniss never came back that night. I was getting extremely worried; was she okay? Did something bad happen after I left? I knew I had to go find her, but what if Cato and the other careers (well the ones that were alive) came after me?

Before I venture to go find Katniss, I wait to see who has died today. The sky becomes pixalized and the anthem plays. They show the faces of Glimmer and Marvel. I still couldn't believe I had enough courage in me to kill Glimmer like that. She was my first kill…and hopefully my last. They also show Fox-face. I wonder how she died.

When everything goes back to normal, I grab my bag and knives and head out. Each step I take is careful and silent hoping no one will hear me. After about an hour of searching, my new ally was nowhere in sight. As I am drooping back to my tree, I see something curled up behind a bush. Katniss.

"Katniss!" I run as fast as I can over to her. I can't really tell what she's doing; I think she is crying or screaming, or maybe even both. "Katniss, where have you been? Are you okay?" I ask her. She stays silent, then flips over on her stomach and shows me her leg. She has a hole in the back of her thigh, still bleeding like crazy. You can clearly see her muscle twitching every second and brown dirt stuck beneath her skin.

Without even asking, I help her up and I try my very hardest to walk her back to our cave. When we get to the cave, Claudius begins to say something.

"Hello tributes! Congratulations on being in the top 6! Now, there is something each and every one of you needs…tomorrow morning there will be a feast. Come if you would like, you never know what could be in it. Hope you can make it." Then it goes back to complete silence.

"Your ointment!" I say excitedly. Maybe I could be able to save her, as she saved me!

"No Rue, I am not letting you go. You could get yourself killed! I'm fine, I promise." she supposedly promises. On that note, we both go to sleep.

I wake up in fright, when I hear squishing of leaves from outside the cave. Like I always am, I am too scared to go out to check. With nothing left to do, I calmly wake Katniss up.

"W-What's wrong Rue?" Katniss asks me while yawning.

"I-I think I h-heard something o-outside." I stutter, scared to death.

"Let me go check…I think you were just dreaming." she limps out of the cave. After that, I don't hear anything from her or anything outside at all.

Katniss has been out for almost 30 minutes, there was no way she could be okay. She probably passed out again. Being as brave as possibly, I pick myself up and head outside the cave. I skim the woods are the cave, but no Katniss. But then out of the corner of my eye I see Katniss tied to a tree with tape over her mouth.

"Katniss!" I screech as I run over to her. She begins to shake her head as if she didn't want me to go over and save her. Why wouldn't she want me to save her? Then my life flashed before me. Cato, Clove and Gale come out from behind the tree where Katniss is being held captive.

"Well, well, here you are. We were all disappointed you left yesterday. If it wasn't for Katniss over there, you'd be dead already! But she can't help you now can she?" he intimidates me. This was officially the scariest time in my life. Then, he releases his spear from his hand in my direction.

**Katniss's POV:**

Right as I watch Cato release the spear from his hands I feel something tickling my hands on the other side of the tree. It's Gale. What was he doing? He comes around front and removes the tap from my mouth. OW!

"What the heck are you doing, Gale?" I ask him curiously. If Cato found out that he was helping me, he would surely kill him.

"Could you talk any louder? I'm helping you out; don't I owe it to you?" He answers. Then he goes back and finishes untying my hands. When I finally get undone, I see Rue lying on the ground about ten feet away from where I was. Without seeing if she was okay, I take out an arrow and shoot it at Cato who is running away with Clove already.

My aim is way off because instead of Cato going down, I see the arrow puncture Clove in her back. She falls to the ground. Dead. I immediately run to Rue who is still on the ground.

"Rue! Rue are you okay?" I drop to her side. She moans and groans a little. A sign that she's not dead… yet. She slowly lifts her left arm and points to her right arm. There is a slice in her arm about four inches long from the knife that Cato threw at her.

"Come on Rue. Let's get up and go back to the cave. I'll take care of you there." I gently lift her up and hurry to the cave. When we get back to the cave I can hear yelling from outside. It's Gale.

**Gale's POV:**

"Why the hell did you help her!" Cato screams into my ear. Cato was way stronger than I could ever be. "I thought you were over her?" he asks me; I slightly shake my head.

"I'm sorry I'm gonna have to do this to you." he holds up a knife and holds it to my neck. "Just imagine, you wouldn't be on the edge of dying, if you hadn't helped her."

"I'd rather die, than let you kill Katniss. I love her. Ever since I met her hunting back in district 12. You're just too mean and hypocritical to be in love, or even know what love is." I protest.

"That's it! Your dead meat!" he flings his knife back and tackles me to the ground. He throws a punch at me, and I return the favor. I needed help.

"Help! Help!" I scream. I was hoping that maybe, just maybe, Rue or Katniss would come out from the cave and save me. The fact that they were both hurt didn't help much. Cato kicks me in the face, and at that very second, I know I have been defeated.

Then suddenly, out of nowhere, both Rue and Katniss come out of the cave with weapons in their hands.

"Leave him alone." Katniss threatens him. "Now put the weapon down, and let him go." She begins to walk closer with Rue attached to her side.

"No! He deserves to die!" Cato argues back.

"Then kill me instead." My jaw drops when she says this. Would she really die for me? Now I just feel stupid.

"Ok then! Come here missy!" She begins to walk closer to him.

"No Katniss! You can't do this!" Rue screams holding onto her arm trying to pull her back.

"You'll be fine. Don't worry." And at that very moment, Rue lets go Katniss's arm and runs into my chest. Her tears stain my jacket. This was not okay. Right as Cato lifts up his knife once again, I grab the knife that lie on the ground from Rue and run at Cato from behind. I jab him in his heart, and blood begins to drip from his wound. Then, Rue runs into Katniss's arms.

"It's going to be okay." Katniss pats Rue on her back as she continues crying. Then Katniss locks her eyes on mine. I watch her lips as she mouths the words "Thank You". I nod my head at her and walk away. There was one thing left to do. Get the ointment.

Since there were only two districts left, getting the ointment would be a piece of cake. I run as fast as I can to the cornucopia to retrieve their bags. Rue and Katniss needed that ointment as soon as possible; they both have lost too much blood in a small amount of time.

After I get the ointment, I run back to the cave to give it to them. Well that's where I assumed that's where they'd be. When I enter the cave, Rue stands up and runs to me.

"Gale! Thank you soooo much! I totally forgot….Katniss's has been breathing all funny. If you wouldn't have got this, she might die soon." She gives me a hug. I make my way over to Katniss who is sleeping.

"Katniss, can you get up for a second. I got some ointment for you." With the first word out of my mouth she is up.

"Y-you go me some ointment?" she asks me.

"It's for you and Rue. Rue said you were breathing oddly." I reassure her.

I slowly uncap the ointment and gingerly apply the ointment to the back of her leg. She flinches when I first touch her, but after that, she is fine. With the ointment I had left, I carefully put it on Rue's upper arm where her slice is.

"Well, my work here is done. So I will let you go now. Hopefully, I will see you two later." I begin to walk out the door but before I can get too far, Rue comes running towards me.

"Do you really have to go?" Rue asks me.

"Yeah. Katniss's doesn't want me here right now. If you can't tell, she's still kind of mad at me. I'll meet up with you later." She gives me one more hug then skips back to Katniss. It kills me to think that eventually, I am going to have to kill her.

**Katniss's POV:**

When I wake up from my sleep, my wound on my leg is almost completely healed. I look over to Rue who is peacefully sleeping as well, to see her arm fully healed. If someone like Thresh were to come along looking for us, he would have no idea that we were injured so badly.

Without Rue hearing me, I go outside and sit next to a rock. I slowly close my eyes and begin to think.

"Peeta. I'm alive. I don't know if you know or not. And I will do whatever it takes to get back home with you. Don't worry about what Gale will do and has already done. I'll take care of him later. Tell my mom and Prim I love them. Tell Prim that Rue reminds me so much of her. Tell her I will make it out alive, and maybe after I can teach her how to hunt with me. I love you Peeta." I whisper to myself; hopefully he heard me. Then I open my eyes, and go back into the cave, where I find Rue still calmly sleeping. I lay down next to her, and her arms wrap around mine, and I go back to sleep.

**PEETA'S POV:**

That night I dream of what life now would be like since Katniss was dead. Suddenly in my dream, Katniss appears.

_"Peeta. I'm alive. I don't know if you know or not. And I will do whatever it takes to get back home with you. Don't worry about what Gale will do and has already done. I'll take care of him later. Tell my mom and Prim I love them. Tell Prim that Rue reminds me so much of her. Tell her I will make it out alive, and maybe after I can teach her how to hunt with me. I love you Peeta." _

She was alive. How could she have made it? I saw what Cato did to her; how could she have possibly survived? I hurry out of bed and run to the TV and turn it on. It shows the whole recap since the part where Katniss lost consciousness. I watch her risk her life for Gale, and kill Clove for almost killing Rue, and taking care of Rue. How did I find a girl so perfect and amazing like her?

"I love you too, Katniss." I say out loud. Then Prim comes running into the room.

"Is everything okay Peeta?" She asks me. I tell her to sit down. I had to follow Katniss's instructions.

"Katniss talked to me last night." I tell her. Her expression goes from worried to confused.

"You _talked_ to her?" she asks me again.

"Yes. She talked to me in my dream." I reassure her. "She told me that she was alive. I don't know if you kept watching after I left last night, but apparently she got up. She told me to tell you that she loves you, and she will do whatever it takes to win the games so she can be with you." She begins to tear up when I tell her this.

"She also told me that Rue reminds her so much of you." her lips then curve into a sweet smile.

"Yeah. Well we are both 12. Is that why she is allies with her?" I didn't know the answer to this question but I just assumed the correct answer was yes, so I nodded my head.

"Oh, she also said that when she comes back, if you want her to, she will teach you how to hunt in the woods." Prim begins to laugh.

"Haha! I'm not going to learn how to hunt! She tried to teach me a couple years ago, I think it was right after our dad died. I failed; epically." I laugh too.

I liked being at the Everdeen's house, they made me feel loved. If I was at the bakery right now, my parents and brothers would be making fun of my love for Katniss and I would have no one to comfort me like Ms. Everdeen tried to yesterday. I would be going crazy right now, I'd probably have left district 12 again. I reach over to Prim and give her a huge hug.

"I love you Prim." I whisper into her hear. She was like the younger sister I never had.

"I love you too, Peeta." She whispers back in my ear. She hugs me even tighter; then we go back to watching the recap of what we missed last night.


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Well I'm on my way back to Minnesota once again for a bridal shower! I always try to get one chapter done whenever I go on a road trip! Hint hint…we are getting towards the end of the games! If you are a Galeniss fan, you gotta go check out the story "14 and Lying" by my friend HappyKid21; it's pretty awesome (considering the fact I hate Gale!) Enjoy…**

**KATNISS'S POV:**

That night I can't seem to sleep. There are four of us left. One being nobody to me, one being my twelve year old ally, one being my best friend since I was 14 and hunting partner, and the last one being me. What was I going to do? Be selfish and win myself? Let the guy who claims he loves me but just let someone kill me win? Have Rue win so she can go back to her family, but break my promise with Peeta and Prim?

When Rue wakes up, we go on our usual walk around, looking for goods and weapons. It wasn't has hard as usual, because we didn't have to worry about the careers coming out from behind the trees and killing us. Also both of our injuries were perfectly healed, so I wasn't limping around everywhere. Suddenly, we hear the squeak of a microphone from in the air but then Claudius's voice comes on.

"Congratulations to you final four tributes! Just to inform all of you, there has been a rule change. Now, two tributes from the same district can win! Good luck, and may the odds be _ever _in your favor." He says loud and clear. Rue gives me an expression that means a lot of things; I can tell. She was scared, worried, confused, and happy all at one time. I had nothing to say at that point. I didn't want to leave Rue, and I don't think she wanted to leave me; but was that the only way to give her a better chance of winning.

"You've gotta go find Thresh." I blurt out. She begins to cry and shakes her head. "It's the only way to make sure that you win. Trust me." I continue.

"B-but what about you?" she barely spits out. I shrug my shoulder and think. What was I going to do?

"I don't know Rue? I might go find Gale." I tell her. I doubt he wants to see me though.

"I think he misses you." She informs me. A little late much?

"Oh." I say as I walk over and pick up two knifes from the ground. "Take these knifes with you, just in case. Call the mocking jays when you find Thresh so I know you're safe. I will do the same when I find Gale, I promise." She takes the knifes and put them in her bag. Then jumps into my arms and embraces me harder than ever.

"You'll be fine, don't worry. Hopefully I will see you later." She cries into my shoulder. I was probably a second away from crying, but before I could she pulls away from me; she slightly waves at me then droops out of the cave. That might have been my last words with Rue…

I sit and think for a while in the cave before I decide to head out. Was Gale looking for me? I doubt it; I think I made it clear earlier that I didn't want to talk to him and I hated him. But I never got to say thank you for the ointment and helping me out before. I really need to apologize.

**GALE'S POV:**

What was the point? Even if I did go to find Katniss, she wouldn't work with me she hates me! Cause I was being stupid me and being selfish; I guess I didn't realize how much I needed her in my life. I don't care; I was going to find Katniss. I grab all my belongings and head out. The only one left that might actually kill me is Thresh, so I keep my eyes out for him.

I begin to head to the cave. Had she let Rue go? As I think about this question more in-depth, I hear a loud "crack" from behind a tree a couple meters away. I slowly make my way closer to the tree. I decide to stand right up against it and take my one spear left out. Once plenty of time passes, I put down the spear and move to the other side of the tree. Suddenly, there is a big clump of brown hair in my mouth and there is someone hugging me. Katniss?

"Do you know glad I am to see you? I thought that you were Thresh coming to kill me!" She whines as she lets go of me. Was she really glad to see me?

"Same." I say. 'Same'? That's all you have to say to her? I look down and realize that the back of her leg is fully healed. "Wow your leg looks great!" I cheerfully say. She nods her head.

"Um yeah, I know. Can we actually talk about that?" she asks me.

"Sure. We can go back to the cave if you'd like?" she shakes her head at my idea.

"Too many sad memories…how about we go down by the cornucopia?" Her idea scares me a bit, but I nod my head and we go. On the way there, we hear the mocking jays four note call.

"Oh I totally forgot! I was supposed to call her when I found you. She must have found Thresh." Without letting me say a word or comment, she whistles the notes and the birds repeat. Our walk to the cornucopia after that is silent. What did she want to talk to me about?

When we get there, we set up our stuff and get settled. She goes out hunting for some "lunch" and when she gets back, she lets her mouth fly.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry for telling you I hated you; I could never hate you. I'm sorry for treating you like a piece of crap. Do you know how stupid I felt after you untied me and got the ointment for me and Rue? I felt like a piece of crap instead. I just wanted to say thanks for that. And that we should just pretend like nothing has happened so far because we both need each other now." This takes me by surprise.

"Ok. But first I want to say that I am really sorry for not helping you before; I was too selfish and I guess I didn't realize how much you mean to me and what life would be like without you." I say. We stare at each other for the next minute or so. How do I show her how I feel about her? Screw Peeta! I lean in towards her and press my lips against hers; she doesn't pull away at first. This was way better than when I kissed her in the woods weeks before the reaping. Had she forgotten about that?

Two days pass as we spend every minute together. She doesn't mention anything about the kiss, which is fine with me. We hunt together like old times, which is always nice. Every once in a while she has moment of constant thinking and crying. One night, after one of her thinking sessions, she sits me down.

"We have to let Rue and Thresh win." she spits out. She hides her head in her arms after saying this. How did she expect me to react?

"What about our families back home? Prim?" I ask her. She must have been doing some very intense thinking to come up with this conclusion.

"Peeta would take care of Prim and my mother, I'm positive." she says. Did she not care about my family? Because I am about 100% positive Peeta would NEVER help my family.

"Now, what about Peeta?" I whisper this question out of my mouth. This must have been a sensitive question, because tears slowly begin to drip from her eyes and she shrugs her shoulders.

"I don't know Gale, okay! All I know is Rue deserves to live, I would die for Prim; I would die for Rue. Peeta would understand…hopefully." she finishes before crawling to the edge of our little tent to go to sleep. I am absolutely sure she cried herself to sleep.

Every second that night, I regret asking that question. But if she really did want Rue and Thresh to win, I never told her how I felt about it. I don't know where to go from here; she thinks I want to save this poor girl too…I don't.

**PEETA'S POV:**

How could he! I told him specifically, NOT to take advantage of her, and kiss her! IDIOT! I storm out of the Everdeen's house and straight to the Hawthorne's house. Prim and Ms. Everdeen come running out after me.

"Peeta stop! Let it go..." Ms. Everdeen yells to me. I barge right into the Hawthorne's house and search for Ms. Hawthorne. Finally I find her in the kitchen cooking dinner.

"Did you teach your kids any manors!" I scream at her.

"I'm sorry Peeta! I had no control of what Gale did. He love's Katniss, you know that too! Now get the hell out of my house!" She yells back at me. By the time I am pushed to the door, Ms. Everdeen and Prim walk into the door.

"I'm sorry, Hazelle. He's been a little "out of it" since Katniss went into the games. Give him a break, he loves her." she nods her head, but says nothing else about it.

"You should go now. I need to continue cooking and Peeta needs to calm down a bit. Maybe give some tea and just let him sleep." she suggests to Ms. Everdeen.

"I don't need sleep or to calm down! I just need Katniss to be safe and come back and love me still!" I yell to everybody in the room. Gale's younger brothers are just sitting in the "living room" watching the Games on their TV.

"Wowy whath gowing on?" Posy jumps up and asks Rory whose face looks more scared than Posy's.

"I-I think should come look at this guys." Rory tells Prim, Ms. Everdeen, Hazelle and I. We walk over closer to the TV to see what he so worried about. Out of nowhere, another kid comes running out a bedroom. He had another brother? The screen is showing is showing Thresh carrying Rue as they run away from something heading toward the cornucopia.

"W-what are they running from?" Vick asks everyone. My face drops when the screen zooms out and displays what the district 11 tributes are running from.

"Katniss, Katniss PLEASE! You really have to get up! Listen to me, GET UP! Your whole family is here and we need yout to get up and run! I know you can hear me, please…" I finish. If she could talk to me, I could talk to her.

"What are you doing Peeta? She can't hear you" Rory says. Then he coughs something under his breathe. It sounded like "lunatic" but I just let it go.

"Katniss and I talk to each other." I tell them. Rory and Vick begin to chuckle and Hazelle gives me a strange look. Prim, who is sitting quite close to Rory stands up and walks close to me.

"He's telling the truth. Katniss asked him to tell me something!" she helps me protest. Rory immediately stops laughing and acts more serious. That's why I love Prim; she's always got your back.

"CAN SOMWON TEWLL ME WHATH THEY AWE WUNNING FWOM?" Posy yells from the screen. We all look at each other with confusing stares. Then I nod my head in confirmation that I would tell him what was chasing them. I take a deep breathe then let the words out.

"A Tornado."


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: Sorry, this I am uploading this again, because I accidentally uploaded the wrong one! Well we are coming to a close…I'm thinking of making a sequel but I'm not sure? This chapter might be a little confusing, but I will try my hardest. Thanks to HappyKid21 for giving me help with this chapter…I mean A LOT of help! Also, to OrangeNinjaAttack3 for editing it as well! ENJOY! (::) (::) COOKIES!**

**KATNISS'S POV:**

"Gale!" I suddenly jerk up. "Gale, get up! There's something coming!" I kick Gale in the head which jolts him onto his feet.

"What's wrong, Katniss?" he asks me. Would he believe me?

"Something's coming. Peeta must be watching at home, and he told me to get up." I tell him. He begins to chuckle a little bit.

"It's true! He's the one that practically saved my life, after you refused to!" I yell at him. With no comment to say, we both begin to pack up our possessions. Right as we push through the doorway of our tent, the trees begin to shake, and they are pulled out of the ground. Eventually, all the trees around the cornucopia are out of their roots and have formed some sort of wall around us.

"What's going on?" I ask Gale with confusion. Were the Game Makers trying to get us together? Had it been too long and they just wanted winners?"

"I don't know… W-what's that?" he points up at something spinning coming our way. We both look at each other determining what it might be. Then it hits me.

"Gale…it's a tornado! Do you remember, I think it was thirteen years ago, there was that really big storm that went through and killed a lot of people? Remember, it was right before Prim was born!" I try to remind him. He just shrugs his shoulders and goes back to staring at the tornado.

All of a sudden, the spinning devil crushes right through the wall of tree. Gale and I run back into our little tent before it could suck us up. But the strength of the tornado lifted up our tent, and almost all of our food and weapons.

When I come out from holding myself in a ball, I see two figures standing in front of me. Who are they? Gale was still whimpering by my side, so who were they? Weird ninjas sent to kill us?... I slowly pick myself up and make my way over to where they were laying. Rue? Thresh? How did they get here?

"Rue?" I run to her side. She had several cuts all down her legs, and it looked like her ankle was swollen.

"K-Katniss…is that you?" she mumbles. Her eyelids slowly open, and I can see her big brown eyes.

"Yeah, it is. Are you okay? What happened?" I ask her. She builds up enough energy to sit up, with Thresh still lying next to her.

"Yeah, I think I'll be okay. I found Thresh, and I asked him if we could go back to the cave, so we did. In the middle of the night, Thresh got up and went outside because he thought he heard something. Then he came in, picked me up and we ran. We were being chased by that "thing". Then Thresh tripped over a tree root and the monster took us up. Next thing we knew, we were here," she explains to me. How were they still alive? Thresh finally gets up and gives Rue a large hug.

"So where's your partner?" Thresh asks me in a deep voice. I don't think I have ever actually heard Thresh talk to anyone but Rue.

"Oh, he's probably over there behind the cornucopia probably still freaking out. By the way, that "thing" that was chasing you is called a tornado; we had one once back in district 12." I add in.

"So now what?" Rue asks both Thresh and I. Thresh and I both shrug our shoulders. I kind of liked this guy! He deserved to win as much as anyone else here. It was time. They brought us together for a reason, they want their winner. Before I can announce anything, Gale comes out and sits next to me. He seems kind of afraid of Thresh, so he just keeps quiet.

"They brought us together, they want their winners. Gale and I have decided to let you two win." I just come right out and say. Gale tucks his head under his arms. Didn't we decide this? Rue stands up and tears begin to flow from her face.

"No! I will not let you die, I won't!" She runs into me. Her arms curl around me, and tears soak into my jacket.

"I have to. You're only twelve, Rue. You have a whole life ahead of you! You're smart, brave and caring." I say. I then turn to Thresh. "And Thresh is a very nice man. He will make sure you stay safe." He gets off the ground and gives me a large bear hug.

"Thank you" he whispers into my left ear. This was it. I take a knife out of my jacket and hold it in front of my heart. I watch Thresh move over to Rue and pull her into his arms to restrict her from seeing me die. I look to my side to see Gale with a knife as well, but he looks a little anxious.

"On the count of three." I tell Gale. He doesn't nod his head or say anything, he just stands there. Before I start counting, I whisper to Peeta.

"I love you Peeta. This is the best thing, I can't let Rue die. Please keep Prim and my mom safe. The couple weeks I spent with you before the games were just amazing. I wish you would've told me how you felt earlier. Have a good life; hopefully I will see you soon." I whisper as quiet as possible, worrying Gale might hear me.

"3,"

"2,"

"1,"

Right as I'm about to finish myself off, Gale begins to have a freak attack.

"NO! I'M NOT GONNA DIE FOR SOME STUPID LITTLE GIRL! AND SOME GUY THAT I DON'T EVEN KNOW!" he yells running full force into Thresh with his knife still in his hand. Thresh throws Rue out of his hands, and dodges Gale. Gale jumps onto Thresh's back, and begins to punch him. Thresh is attempting to fight back, but he's practically nothing without weapons. I run to Rue and give her a big hug once again.

"Gale, stop!" Rue and I scream at him. He doesn't listen, because he just continues to attack Thresh. I take out an arrow and shoot it at Gale. It misses him by about a foot. I was really off lately! Rue takes out a slingshot that she must have made, and flings and sharp rock at his head. With her luck, it hits him right on the side on the side of his head. He lets go of Thresh, and begins to stomp our way.

"Gale, stop! What the heck is your problem" I scream at him. He grabs the knife off of the ground from earlier, and continues running towards us. He looked determined; determined to kill. "Gale, no! Don't do it Gale! Please just do-" before I could finish, he releases the knife out of this hands and flings it straight at me; at least that's what I thought. He begins to head back to kill Thresh, looking satisfied.

My jaw drops. Where is Rue? I turn around and see her lying on the ground with the knife sticking out of her heart. Her blood is staining every single inch of leather on her jacket. I automatically drop to her side for assistance.

"Rue! Rue are you okay! Rue, talk to me! Rue!" she just lay there with her eyes wide open. Suddenly her mouth opens as if she wants to say something.

"K-K-Katniss. You are the air beneath my wings, you're the one th-that kept me above water. You're the lyrics to my melody. Another sister t-t-to me. I-" She breaths raggedly trying to continue, a tear that had nothing to do with the physical pain slipped down her check. I bend down and kiss her forehead.

"Please! No! Why? Stay with me." I beg and plead.

"Go home. Win this thing, for me. Be with your family and Peeta," Her voice gets soft, gentle like she was addressing a newborn "I love you. C-can you sing to me?" she barely whispers.

"I will. I'll win for the both of us now. For all the innocent kids that died. I'll sing for all the chances you'll. You'll never get, and for all the good ones you have had." I choke, my vision feeling foggy from my tears.

"_Deep in the meadow, under the willow  
A bed of grass, a soft green pillow  
Lay down your head, and close your sleepy eyes  
And when again they open, the sun will rise._

_Here it's safe, here it's warm  
Here the daisies guard you from every harm  
Here your dreams are sweet and tomorrow brings them true  
Here is the place where I love you._

_Deep in the meadow, hidden far away  
A cloak of leaves, A moonbeam ray  
Forget your woes and let your troubles lay  
And when again it's morning, they'll wash away._

_Here it's safe, here it's warm  
Here the daisies guard you from every harm  
Here your dreams are sweet and tomorrow brings them true  
Here is the place where I love you."_

Then her eyes slowly close and she's gone. I begin to beat myself up. It was my duty to keep her alive! It was my duty to get her home safe! I'm a monster! How could anyone like me?

Now what? I couldn't just let Rue lay here; she deserved more than this, I loved her as another sister. I pick her up, and carry her outside of the wall of trees. I carefully put her down next to a tall oak tree; she loved the tallest trees. Being in them showing she was as magical as a little bird.

I go out and pick leaves off of every tree I could find and rearrange them nicely on top and around Rue's body. I find some grass that is as green as a perfectly new green crayon and some tall grass with a small pink flower on the top. I use the tall grass with flowers to make a small bouquet. I use the tall grass to gently weave together a well-deserved crown for Rue. Making the crown reminds me of setting snares back in district 12 with Gale. This was so much different. This was the sendoff. This was a way of saying I love you, I'm sorry you're gone. That was a way to kill, to end something. I slowly mount the crown on Rue's curly brown hair, and small droplets drip from my eyes and land on her perfect skin.

"I'm so sorry." I whisper to her one last time. I lean down and give her a gentle kiss on her forehead. As I walk back to the entrance to the cornucopia where the tornado had struck through, I glance back one last time at the girl who was sweet, loving, caring, beautiful, and had a bright and amazing future ahead of her; all crushed because of me. She lies there peaceful; she was a tree goddess.

Just then I get an idea. "Rue," I whisper "I promise I'll tell Peeta all about you, he'll paint and write what I can't. We will have your memory forever; you can show others how to be strong. You'll show them how to give inspiration." I lift my left hand and give the district 12 symbol of good bye that everyone gave me at the reaping. I feel Peeta agreeing with me too.

When I come back, Gale is standing above Thresh. I can see about twenty different scratches on Thresh from Gale's knife, and a spear is punctured into his chest. What happened to Gale? He turns his head toward me and locks his eyes on me, then slightly decides to walk towards me.

I try to sneak away so I would never have to see the wretched murderer's face again. I suddenly hate the scent of pine and oranges. His scent. But he catches me; he is as familiar to the sound of my heart beat as me.

"Stay away from me!" I scream at him, as I back up.

"Katniss I'm so-"he begins. Yeah, sure he was! He callously murdered a child. Would he kill Prim if she was here with us. I feel a whole new level of rage boil in my system.

"Shut up! If you didn't want to let them win, you should've told me earlier! I would have killed you then! Now look, we could have saved you all of this trouble!" I yell at him. Would I really have though?

"Katniss! Let me talk!" he screams back at me. I slowly nod my head and he begins again. "We won" he says in a calmer tone. We won? We won!

"Well now what?" I ask him. He shrugs his shoulder like always. It's the most annoying thing in the world to me. Then we hear coughing from in the sky.

"Sorry for that folks…there has been a slight rule change. The previous rule change has been revoked. Only one tribute can win. Good luck and may the odds be _EVER_ in your favor!" When he finishes his statement, I automatically reach down and grab my bow and arrow, and point it in Gale's direction. He then runs over to Thresh and grabs the spear out of him.

"Don't do it, Katniss." he tells me. My bow stays up high and my arrow still ready to release.

"Why! You killed Rue and Thresh! I would be perfectly fine back home without you…" I argue with him.

"Now I doubt that, Katniss. Who would you hunt with? How would you get food? How would you feel…without your best friend? I'm sorry, Katniss, I kind of had a mental breakdown when we decided to kill ourselves. I just couldn't do it, with my family at home. But no matter what, I will not go home alone." he finishes. Would I really be able to live without him?

"Remember all of the good times we have spent together: hunting, school, making fun of the rich kids of District 12, mocking president snow, giving strawberries to the mayor. I say we both die." he suggests. Wasn't that my plan all along?

"But…." I stop. "But what about Peeta? If I died, he would kill himself." This was a true statement; I don't how he would react.

"You were about to kill yourself earlier. What's the difference?" He asks me. Was the difference really not that obvious to him?

"I had a purpose to die! I was saving a little girls life…but now I'm just dying to die!" I argue back. There was no way that I would go back without him, and no way would he go back without me.

"What else is there to do Katniss?" he continues arguing. We argue a lot back in district 12, but it's more of a funny arguing. But he was right, what else could we do? Nothing.

"Fine. Can I just have a minute?" I finally decide. He nods his head and I run inside the cornucopia and sit in the corner. Tears begin to flow out of my red puffy eyes. Why me?

"Peeta. I'm so sorry. It's the only way to go. Please don't be mad, I love you, but Gale has been my friend too long for me to just kill him. I don't kill people, I'm not like that even if they deserve it. Promise me you'll fight through this. Everything I said earlier still applies. I love you. Don't kill yourself. Live for me, live for me and heal with my family. I love you Prim, and Mom, and I love you Peeta. " I cry out in a whisper. When I have cried myself dry, I walk back out and stand about 20 feet away from Gale.

"You ready Katniss?" he asks me. I wasn't ready to die, but I nod my head anyway.

"On my count of 5." I tell him. Instead of nodding his head, he drops his spear and runs at me. He wraps his arms around me. He flows his fingers through my hair. How much would he miss me? I squeeze him tightly until his muscular body rips away from mine. "Are you ready now?" I ask him. He barely nods his head so I begin to countdown.

"5,"

"4,"

"3," I realized we did have a cause we weren't just dying we would set a spark. We would start the inferno. We would stop others from my fate; stop Prim and Peeta from dying as Rue and Thresh had.

"2," Suddenly I hear Gale say something. "I love you Katniss,"

"1,"


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: Sorry guys for leaving you with a cliffhanger! I'm also sorry for not updating sooner; I have spent a long time figuring out what to do from there….i was even thinking of ending it there! But I couldn't do that to u guys! Thanks to everyone that has read my story and left reviews! Also, thanks to HappyKid21 and OrangeNinjaAttack for all their help throughout the process of writing this story! Enjoy! Here is your last batch of cookies (::) (::) (::) **

**Katniss's POV:**

I expect Claudius to come on and tell us we both won; they need a tribute, don't they? In the split second before both of us could release our weapons at each other, I see something slowly drop from the now dark sky. I look over at Gale to figure out his thoughts on what it might be, but he is just standing there with his eyes closed expecting an arrow in his heart. Then I realize what this mysterious object was.

"GALE! MOVE IT'S A B-"Before I can finish screaming my instructions to him, the small objects explodes in front of Gale. The force from the bomb throws me back, and I hit my head on the cornucopia wall. My vision turns black and all I can hope is one of us is alive.

I finally get enough energy to push my eyelids slightly open; but no one is in my company when I look around. Where was I? Where was everybody? Where was Gale? What happened to me? Then I hear some voices from outside the room I was in.

"I think she's awake!" There's no doubt that that energetic, happy noise came out of Effie Trinket's mouth. Less than a minute after she makes her announcement, everybody swarms into my room. The first person to run to my side are my prep team, then Effie, but Haymitch and Cinna are still standing in the doorway chatting.

"Congratulations Katniss!" Effie cheers. Wait, what?

"Huh?" is my brilliant response. Effie's expression goes from happy to almost scared as she shoots the same look at Haymitch.

"Everyone leave. Give me some time with the girl, she just woke up!" he "nicely" yells at everyone in the room. I can almost hear the sarcasm.

"But-" Effie tries to resist his request.

"Out!" he yells back at her, turning more serious. She droops her head, then begins to walk out being comforted by my prep team.

"Sorry Katniss." she softly whispers. I don't respond to her apology simply because I'm too confused at the moment. When they all have left, Haymitch closes the door behind him and makes his way to sit down next to me.

"Want the long story, or short story? Your choice, sweetheart." he asks me. I'd rather not know every detail right now, maybe later, so I request the short story. "First, tell me the last thing you remember?" he asks me again. I close my eyes and think back as far as I can.

"Last thing I remember, R-rue died and I had made her look like a tree god." he nods his head and assurance that that did happen. He then tells me that everything he is about to tell me will probably be a lot to take in.

"Well after you came back from transforming Rue into a beauty, Gale had killed Thresh, and Claudius said that only one could win again so you were about to kill him," He starts out. I must have had some anger! "But then he convinced you not to, and you decided to kill each other at the same time. You counted from five but before you both could let go of your weapons, Crane sent down a bomb. You hit your head and were knocked unconscious, and now you're here." he finishes. I thought he was supposed to tell me the short story?

"A-and Gale?" I ask more than curious, he couldn't have died he was so strong. He was Gale, a person that was always there, right? Though what had he done to make me so mad I wanted to kill him? Haymitch suddenly takes his eyes off of mine and stares at the ground instead. I think I already know the answer.

"He died in the explosion." he barely gets it out before tears begin flooding out of my eyes.

Why didn't they kill me with the bomb? I should be dead right now! I feel like half of my heart has been ripped right out of me. Now that he's gone, I think I might have actually loved him. Of course I loved him, but what type now was the question, and it's too late.

"Your interviews are tonight. President Snow isn't particularly happy with what he had to do because your act. You've got to be convincing it was all because you didn't want to lose him…to make it really good you could say it was because you love him." My tears come out faster and even harder than before. "Too soon?" he asks me with a small chuckle.

"Do I have to go to the interview?" I ask him. He laughs at me. "I'm not kidding…" I continue.

"Yes, you do. So try to pull yourself together." he instructs me. Before he closes the door behind him, he quietly whispers. "Look sweetheart, you could have had it so much worse. It still can be-" It looks like he wants to say more but then the door slams shut.

I assume I only have a good ten minutes or so before my prep team comes running back in to get me ready for tonight. Instead of crying over a guy that I will never see again, well that's what I tell myself is the reason, I go to sleep for a little longer.

"Katniss? Katniss? Katniss!" I wake up to see my prep team leaned over me. "Come on! Get up! You have to be down for your interview in 30 minutes!" I jerk up. Thirty minutes! They were supposed to wake me up two hours ago!

"Why didn't you wake me up earlier?" I ask them. They shrug their shoulders but I just let it go, we didn't have time to argue.

I take a quick shower and my prep team blow dries me hair. While my prep team is putting my hair in a braid just as my mother did for the reaping, Cinna walks in holding a short pink dress with a little poof to it. Was this dress for me?

"Is this mine?" I ask him. He nods his head back to me. I realize that I haven't talked to him since before the games. "Why is it so simple? Aren't you kind of known for really amazing dresses?" I get a chuckle out of this myself, but Cinna doesn't think it's funny.

"I designed this dress to make you seem innocent and girlish so… just put it on Katniss, I can't explain really." He hands me the dress. He seemed quite upset with me; and he was the only one that I actually like at the Capital. I knew the reason so less capital rage would be put on me.

"Wow I look great Cinna. Thank you." I come out and twirl around for him.

"Katniss it' an- it's an honor. And I'm sorry for before…I'm just a little sad, 'cause I had this dress that I planned on you wearing, but Haymitch said it wouldn't be a good idea for your current -um-figure." he apologizes/lies smoothly. "and I'm sorry about Gale." he suddenly adds in. I stare at him with my eyes wide open for a second or two before I go running into his arms.

"I'm sorry. I probably smeared all my makeup now." I say when I let go and wipe the continuous tears from under my eyes.

"Don't worry. Remember I'm still betting on you, and you still do look quite stunning." he pulls mascara out of his jacket and fixes me up.

I give a weak nod. Nerves and loss caught up with me; I give him one last hug before my interview. Maybe even my last hug before I go home.

"You'll do great. I'll see you in district 12 for the Victory Tour. Until then, be inextinguishable." he whispers into my ear. I wave goodbye and head down with Haymitch and Effie for my interview. I'm more nervous than I was for the last interview by far. What if they mention Gale? I'll break down crying like I have every time today already!

"You ready, sweetheart?" Haymitch asks me. He's one of the only ones that actually understands what I am going through, he lost his tribute in the second quarter quell. Also, because he's the only one, that really understood our relationship. Really, it's odd. I always just picture him as a smart but drunk person.

"I guess. Let's just get this over. I want to go home." I walk towards the entrance to the stage and wait for my signal.

"Now it's an honor for me to introduce the winner of the 74th Annual Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen! The girl on fire!" Caesar Flickerman yells for me to come out. As I walk towards Caesar, the crowd begins to roar; I hear my name being screamed from every direction. I try to ignore them as much as I can so I can get to the seat next to Caesar without tripping and looking stupid.

I finally get to the seat and Caesar waits for everyone to quiet down. I don't think I have seen any crowd be louder than this crowd. While we wait, I look to Caesar and shake my head in disbelief. Since everyone is more focused on me, no one notices when Caesar mouths the words "I'm sorry" to me. I don't really know what he was sorry? Finally they have turned quiet, and he can begin. I can do this, I can do this. Do this, go home, get crowned, then I can relax, talk to Prim, cry on Peeta's shoulder.

"So Katniss, how have you been?" he asks me. Is he trying to get me to talk about Gale?

"Other than the fact that I woke up less than five hours ago, I've been good." I avoid talking about Gale, so I just lie.

"Well that's good. How do you feel to be the victor? You did it, you won!" he says. The crowd begins to scream loud once again, so I wait.

"It's an honor, to me, to be one of the only two victors of district 12 that are alive." This was true; Haymitch and I were the only victors in 74 games.

"How do you think your sister is going to feel?" I almost forgot about her.

"Well I kept my promise to her. I just can't wait to see her again, I miss her so much! But I know Peeta is keeping her safe and fed. I also can't wait to see him again, I miss him as much as-as the capital is colorful." For the second time today, I put a big smile on my face. I really did miss him, I don't know what he would've done if I died.

"Yeah, I bet he misses you too. Now tell me, what was going through your head when you both drew back your weapons?" I try to remember this as much as possible, because about 3 hours ago, I couldn't remember anything.

"Well, I was about ready to kill him because he killed Rue, my ally. But then he reminded me of all of our good times together, and I just couldn't imagine life without him. So we decided together to kill each other." I end it there. I would definitely start crying if I went any further.

"Now you said you couldn't imagine life without him…were you aware that he said that he loved you before the explosion?" I nod my head, I decide to leave it with a nod, I didn't feel like describing everything. "Did you love him?" Everyone in the crowd gasps and I look over at Haymitch who is as shocked as me. I read his lips as he tells me not to cry, but then he just tells me to tell the truth.

"Um…" What if Peeta is watching this? "I didn't realize I loved him until after he was gone." I stop there because he seems like he has something to say by the expression on his face.

"I thought you loved Peeta?" I look back over at Haymitch whose face is now super red with rage. He was mad as I was at Caesar for asking me all these questions. Then I see Cinna come out from behind him; he came to watch me? Did Haymitch ask him to come?

"The way I love Peeta, is a different way than I loved Gale. If Gale was here right now I-" I stop when I feel tears prick my eyes. I shake my head. The recap of the games canceled due to camera malfunctions, but I know it's to not spark any trouble.

"Well that's all. Congratulations, Katniss Everdeen the victor of the 74th Annual Hunger Games!" He takes my right hand and pulls it up in the air. I run off stage as fast as possible, and run into Cinna's arms.

"Remember, he was just doing what he was told to do by President Snow. Now, you can go home. You're the bravest girl I've ever met, remember that too." he whispers into my ear as I am probably getting tears all over his fancy jacket.

"Thanks for everything." I let go of Cinna and step out of my heels. "Can we go now?" I look over at Haymitch who still looks very mad. When he doesn't answer, I go back to my room and change into some better clothes. When I come back down, Effie, Haymitch, and my prep team are already waiting for me in the train.

When I have permission to board the train, it's already pretty late so I crawl into bed. I can't seem to sleep with the thought of Gale actually being dead stuck in my head. How would I talk to Hazelle ever again? After about four hours of strategizing, I go to sleep.

It isn't much longer after I fall asleep that I wake up screaming. I'm used to Peeta or Gale coming to my side, but neither of them comes. I stay awake until Haymitch knocks on my door and tells me we are there. Did he hear me scream?

"Are you okay?" he asks me. I think he was expecting me to be excited that we were there, but instead I just drop out of bed and put on a robe. I sit down at the breakfast table, and grab a muffin. I barely eat a nibble of it before Haymitch comes storming back in.

"Look what they've done to you! Caeser didn't have to do that…do you know the only reason they had him ask you all those personal questions was for revenge, to make you look weak and take advantage of you?" Effie tries to calm him down, but instead he goes into the bar car and doesn't come out for a while.

When I finish my dry muffin, Effie takes me to my prep team who just put a little makeup on my face. Effie gives me some not so very helpful advice for when I make my appearance. Then she tells me to go back to my room and put on the dress that is lying on my bed.

The first thing I see is the beautiful red dress that I wore at the first interviews. There is a little note attached to it that reads "Be the Girl on Fire. Twirl for me.–Cinna" I will. I will be the Girl on Fire.

Haymitch tells me that it is time for us to get to the Justice Building. I was starting to get nervous, seeing all my friends and family for the first time. The last time I stood on that stage I had just volunteered for Prim, and I had to choose Gale, then I was given the three finger respect symbol of District 12. All these people have watched me almost die, kiss Gale, they will never be able to look at me the same way again.

Suddenly, Mayor Undersee comes out from nowhere. He was the one that was apparently going to give me my crown, because Snow "couldn't make it" to district 12.

"Whenever you're ready." he tells me.

"Ready," I confirm to him. Then he leaves my side and starts introducing me. I feel like I am about to puke. Wait, I'm not ready!

"It's a great honor for me to introduce to you our very own Katniss Everdeen, Victor of the 74th Annual Hunger Games!" his introduction is almost identical to Caesar's. I slowly trip onto the stage. Surprisingly the roar from district 12 is louder than the Capitol's.

The first person I see a girl with blonde pig tails braided up just like mine, sitting about three feet taller than everyone else. Her smile lights up my face, she waves to me. I wave back to her and I can once again feel tears drip down my face. Prim. My little duck. Memories flood my view, from tucking in her blouse, a quack, or even a lullaby song while she was sick in bed long ago.

I look down at the person holding her up so high. Peeta. His beautiful blue eyes stare straight into mine. His mouth curves into a smile, which makes me, smile even bigger. His blonde hair is messed up just as I like it. We stare at each other until I realize that the Mayor is waiting for me to get seated in the chair.

I walk over to him and take a seat. Haymitch comes out from the building with a velvet box that looks familiar from the train ride. He stands beside the mayor and slowly opens the box to reveal the most gorgeous tiara. The mayor gently takes the crown out and asks me to stand; and I do as he says.

"Congratulations to you, Katniss Everdeen for winning the 74th Annual Hunger Games," he begins to place the tiara on my head. "I put this tiara on your head to let everyone know how much you mean to us, and that we are proud of you. It's also to symbolize your great courage, and strength, before the games, and during the games. We thank you." he finishes.

When the ceremony is officially over, Haymitch guides me back inside the Justice Building. But before he can shut the door behind me, I hear my name being screamed from the crowd. Prim. I turn around to see her being taken off of Peeta's shoulders and her running this way.

Without notice, I slip out of my heels and carefully run down the stairs of the stage. She runs straight into my arms. I can feel her small tears trickling down my arm. This causes me to cry myself; though I deserve to die, I don't know how we would both go on without each other.

"I missed you soooooo much Katniss." she stutters, still in my grip.

"I missed you too, little duck." I duck the back of her blouse into her skirt like I did the day of the reaping.

"You kept my promise." she looks me in the eyes.

"I always keep my promises, especially for you." This is a lie. I promised to keep Rue safe, I failed. I promised to try and keep Gale alive, I failed. At least I kept one promise. My mother comes out of nowhere and gives me a big hug.

"I'm so proud of you." This is all she says to me. I try to look around for the Hawthornes to apologize for letting him die. Then I see Peeta walking this way. Make that two promises.

"I'll be right back, okay?" I tell Prim and my mom. She nods her head; she understands what I have to do. I run as fast as I can into his arms. I can feel him rustling his fingers in between my hair, and I do the same to him. I missed his warm body and muscular arms wrapped gently around me. He must have been working out or lifting a lot of flour, because he seems so much stronger. When I let go of him, we stare deep into each other's eyes. What were to have happen if I had picked him? Would he have died in the explosion as Gale did?

"I didn't know I could hear an angel in my head. Though the way she was distressed was just wrong for her voice. I'll make see to it that she never has to be like that again, I'll be her number one fan, her shoulder to cry on, her protector, her friend, her family, her anybody, her anything, everything." After he says this, his last line hangs in the air. I know he was talking about me and our connection. So I lean and press my lips against his. I missed his lips against mine; it was just like before the games. Something about this kiss is special. Anybody watching could easily tell we haven't seen each other in a good three months. It was warm, comforting, and awoke a strong feeling that emanated from my core, it was like the very essence of Peeta. When our lips finally peel apart, he gently moves the hair in my face behind my ears.

"You don't know how much I missed you." he tells me. I realize that I have not thought about Gale this whole time. I can tell he wants to bring it up, but he knows how I'll react.

"I missed you too." He pulls me in for another hug. More tears come from my red puffy eyes. Like I said in the interview, my love for Gale is different than my love for Peeta.

"I love you." I whisper into his ear.

"I love you too." he whispers back into my ear. I know he has meant every word he has said in the last ten minutes or so. Then suddenly I feel a small body pushing through Peeta and I.

"You can't steal all of her hugs, Peeta!" We all begin to laugh when Prim pops up separating me from Peeta. "Can we go home now?" Prim asks everyone. I shrug my shoulders and look onto the stage to see if Haymitch was still there. And by surprise he was still watching me from the doorway to the Justice Building. He must know what I have to ask him, because he nods his head and waves goodbye.

"Let's go then, little duck." I grab Prim's left and we begin to walk home. Prim mainly talks about school and how Peeta always made her a bunch of cookies. Peeta only mentioned that my family acting as if he were part of the family. This doesn't surprise me; I knew he would have a hard time living with me in the games.

In the distance I can see my house. I know this will be our last day living here before Victor's Village. Then everything will really change. I hope for the better. I take a better look at our house. The door still broken at the bottom from when I slammed the door on Gale's face, I see my bedroom; the one I looked through every day and watched Peeta walk Prim to school. When we get to the front door, I stop and just look at all my surroundings. My mom and Prim go inside to prepare a meal for me. Peeta gently grasps my hand his hands.

"Welcome home."

**A/N: Well it's over! Thanks for the help of making this chapter how it is…..to HappyKid21 and OrangeNinjaAttack! SURPRISE….I'm writing a sequel to this! The name was picked by HappyKid21….it is called "Nearly Revenge"! Below is the link to the story, I have only added the recap so far but I will get to writing as soon as possible! Thanks again readers! Review this story or the beginning of the next if you have ANY ideas for my sequel…**

**Here is the link:**

s/8345289/1/


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